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THE  CASTLE  OF  THE   SHADOWS 


Books  by 
C.  N.  AND  A.  M.  WILLIAMSON 

The  Lightning  Conductor 
The  Princess  Passes 
My  Friend  the  Chauffeur 
Lady  Betty  Across  the  Water 
Rosemary  in  Search  of  a  Father 
My  Lady  Cinderella 
The  Car  of  Destiny 
The  Chaperon 
The  Princess  Virginia 
Set  in  Silver 
Etc.,  Etc. 


The 

Castle  of  the  Shadows 

By 
MRS.  C.  N.  WILLIAMSON 


New  York 

Doubleday,  Page  &  Company 

1909 


AXTTHOBIIKD  EDrxlOW 
DOUBLEDAY,  PAGE  &  CXX 


TO 

A  GOOD  MARCHESE 

THIS  STORY  OF 

A  WICKED    MARCHESE 


213S950 


CONTENTS 


CHAFTEB 


PAGE 


I. 

Where  Dreamland  Began    . 

3 

II. 

The  Story  Told  by  Two      . 

31 

III. 

A  Mystery  and  a  Bargain    . 

61 

IV. 

The  Closed  Door 

84 

V. 

The  Lady  on  the  Verandah 

.       108 

VI. 

The  End  of  the  World 

.       134 

VII. 

The  Gates  Open 

.       158 

VIII. 

Number  1280      .         .         .         , 

178 

IX. 

A  Cry  Across  the  W^ater 

201 

X. 

"Once  on  Board  the  Lugger" 

.       224 

XI. 

Virginia's  Great  Moment    . 

248 

XII. 

Stand  and  Deliver! 

.       270 

xm. 

The  Game  of  Blujff     . 

,       294 

THE  CASTLE  OF  THE   SHADOWS 


The  Castle  of  the  Shadows 

CHAPTER  I 

WHERE   DREAMLAND   BEGAN 

ACCORDING  to  the  calendar  it  was  winter; 
xV  but  between  Mentone  and  the  frontier 
town  of  Ventimiglia,  on  the  white  road  inlaid 
like  a  strip  of  ivory  on  dark  rocks  above  the 
sapphire  of  the  Mediterranean,  it  was  fierce 
summer  in  the  sunshine.  A  girl  riding  between 
two  men,  reined  in  her  chestnut  mare  at  a 
cross-road  which  led  into  the  jade-green  twi- 
light of  an  olive  grove.  The  men  pulled  up 
their  horses  also,  and  all  three  came  to  a  sudden 
halt  at  a  bridge  flung  across  a  swift  but  shallow 
river,  whose  stony  bed  cleft  the  valley. 

The  afternoon  sunshine  poured  down  upon 
them,  burnishing  the  coils  of  the  girFs  hair  to 
gold,  and  giving  a  dazzling  brilliancy  to  a  com- 
plexion which  for  twenty  years  to  come  need 

s 


4  THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

not  fear  the  light  of  day.  She  was  gazing  up 
the  valley  shut  in  on  either  side  with  thickly 
wooded  hills,  their  rugged  heads  still  gilded, 
their  shoulders  already  half  in  shadow;  but  the 
eyes  of  the  men  rested  only  upon  her.  One 
was  English,  the  other  Italian;  and  it  was  the 
Italian  whose  look  devoured  her  beauty,  moving 
hungrily  from  the  shining  tendrils  of  gold  that 
curled  at  the  back  of  her  white  neck,  up  to  the 
small  pink  ear  almost  hidden  with  a  thick,  rip- 
pling wave  of  hair;  so  to  the  piquant  profile  which 
to  those  who  loved  Virginia  Beverly,  was  dearer 
than  cold  perfection. 

"  Oh,  the  olive  woods ! "  she  exclaimed.  "  How 
sweet  they  are!  See  the  way  the  sunshine 
touches  the  old,  gnarled  trunks,  and  what  a 
lovely  light  filters  through  the  leaves.  One 
never  sees  it  anywhere  except  in  an  olive  grove. 
I  should  like  to  live  in  one." 

"Well,  why  not?"  laughed  the  Englishman. 
"What  prevents  you  from  buying  two  or  three? 
But  you  would  soon  tire  of  them,  my  child, 
as  you  do  of  everything  as  soon  as  it  belongs 
to  you." 


WHERE  DREAMLAND  BEGAN  5 

"That's  not  fair,"  replied  the  girl.  "Besides, 
if  it  were,  who  has  helped  to  spoil  me?  I  will 
buy  an  olive  grove,  and  you  shall  see  if  I  tire  of 
it.  Come,  let's  ride  up  the  valley,  and  find  out 
if  there  are  any  for  sale.  It  looks  heavenly  cool 
after  this  heat." 

"You'll  soon  discover  that  it's  too  cool,"  said 
the  Italian,  in  perfect  English.  "The  sun  is 
only  in  these  valleys  for  a  few  hours,  and  it's 
gone  for  the  day  now.  Besides,  there's  noth- 
ing interesting  here.  One  sees  the  best  from 
where  we  stand." 

Virginia  Beverly  turned  her  eyes  upon  him, 
and  let  them  dwell  on  his  face  questioningly. 
"Of  course,  you  must  know  every  inch  of  this 
country,"  she  said,  "as  you  used  to  live  just 
across  the  Italian  border." 

For  once  he  did  not  answer  her  look.  "I 
haven't  spent  much  time  here  for  several  years. 
Paris  has  absorbed  me,"  he  said  evasively. 
"  One  forgets  a  good  deal ;  but  if  you  want  to  see 
a  really  charming  valley,  we  had  better  go 
farther  on.     Then  I  think  I  can  show  you  one." 

Virginia's   pretty   brows,   which   were  many 


6  THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

shades  darker  than  her  hair,  drew  together. 
"But  I  don't  want  to  go  farther,"  she  said. 
"And  I  like  this  valley." 

"Spoilt  child!"  ejaculated  the  Englishman, 
who  claimed  rights  of  cousinship,  though  by 
birth  Virginia  was  American. 

At  that  moment  two  members  of  the  riding 
party,  who  had  contrived  to  be  left  behind,  came 
leisurely  up.  One  was  a  very  handsome,  dark 
woman,  who  succeeded  in  looking  not  more  than 
thirty,  the  other  a  young  man  of  twenty-five, 
enough  like  Virginia  to  suggest  that  they  were 
brother  and  sister. 

"What  are  you  stopping  for.?"  inquired  Lady 
Gardiner,  who  would  not  have  been  sorry  to 
keep  her  friends  in  advance. 

"Waiting  for  you,"  said  Virginia  promptly. 
"I  want  to  explore  this  valley." 

As  she  spoke  she  gave  her  mare  a  little  pat 
on  the  velvety  neck.  The  animal,  which  was 
Virginia's  own,  brought  from  her  namesake 
state,  had  never  known  the  touch  of  the  whip, 
but  understood  the  language  of  hand  and  voice. 
She  went  off  at  a  trot  up  the  shadowed  road; 


WHERE  DREAMLAND  BEGAN  7 

and  the  Marchese  Loria  was  the  first  to  follow. 
But  he  bit  his  lip  under  the  black  moustache, 
pointed  in  military  fashion  at  the  ends,  and 
appeared  more  annoyed  than  he  need  because  a 
pretty  girl  had  insisted  upon  having  her  own  way. 

It  was  not  yet  cold,  as  he  had  prophesied,  but 
it  was  many  degrees  cooler  than  in  the  sunshine ; 
and  as  they  rode  on  the  valley  narrowed,  the  soft 
darkness  of  the  olive  grove  closing  in  the  white 
road  that  overhung  the  rock-bed  of  the  river. 

The  hills  rose  higher,  shutting  out  the  day, 
and  there  was  a  brooding  silence,  only  intensi- 
fied by  the  hushed  whisper  of  the  water  among 
its  pebbles. 

The  shoulders  of  the  heights  were  losing  their 
gold  glitter  now;  and  Virginia  had  a  curious 
sensation  of  leaving  reality  behind  and  enter- 
ing a  mysterious  dreamland. 

For  a  long  time  they  rode  without  speaking. 
Then  Virginia  broke  the  spell  of  constraint  which 
had  fallen  upon  them. 

"Where  are  the  persons  who  gather  the 
olives.^"  she  asked  of  the  Italian,  who  rode 
almost  sullenly  beside  her. 


8  THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"This  isn't  the  time  of  year  for  that,"  he 
replied,  more  abruptly  than  was  his  custom 
in  speaking  to  her. 

"I  never  saw  such  a  deserted  place!"  ex- 
claimed the  girl.  "  We  have  ridden  ever  so  far 
into  the  valley  now  —  two  miles  at  least  —  and 
there  hasn't  been  a  sign  of  human  habitation; 
not  a  person,  not  a  house,  except  the  little 
ruined  tower  we  passed  a  few  minutes  ago,  and 
that  old  chateau  almost  at  the  top  of  the  hill. 
Look!  the  last  rays  of  the  sun  are  touching  its 
windows  before  saying  good-bye  to  the  valley. 
Aren't  they  like  the  fiery  eyes  of  some  fierce  animal 
glaring  watchfully  down  at  us  out  of  the  dusk  ?" 

Pointing  upward,  she  turned  to  him  for  ap- 
proval of  her  fancy,  and  to  her  surprise  saw  him 
pale,  as  if  he  had  been  attacked  with  sudden 
illness. 

"What  is  the  matter?"  she  asked  quickly. 

"Nothing  at  all,"  he  replied.  "A  slight 
chill,  perhaps." 

"No,  there  is  more  than  that,"  Virginia  said 
slowly.  "I'm  sure  of  it.  I've  been  sure  ever 
since  we  stood  on  the  bridge  looking  up  this 


WHERE  DREAMLAND  BEGAN  0 

valley.  You  wanted  to  go  on.  You  could 
hardly  bear  to  stop,  and  when  I  proposed  riding 
in  you  made  excuses." 

*'  Only  for  your  sake,  fearing  you  might  catch 
cold." 

"Yet  you  suggested  going  on  to  another 
valley.  Would  it  have  been  warmer  than  this  ? 
Oh,  Marchese,  I  don't  like  you  when  you  are 
subtle  and  secretive.  It  reminds  me  that  we 
are  of  different  countries  —  as  different  as 
the  north  can  be  from  the  south.  Do  tell  me 
what  is  really  in  your  mind.  Why  do  you 
hate  this  valley  ?  Why  has  coming  into  it  tied 
your  tongue,  and  made  you  look  as  if  you  had 
seen  a  ghost  .'^" 

"You  exaggerate,  Miss  Beverly,"  said  Loria. 
"But  if  you  care  to  know  the  precise  truth  you 
shall,  on  one  condition." 

"What  is  it.?" 

"That  you  turn  your  horse's  head  and  con- 
sent to  go  out  into  the  sunshine  again.  WTien 
we  are  there  I  will  tell  you." 

"  No.  If  I  hear  your  story,  and  think  it  worth 
turning  back  for,  I  will.     I  mean  to  have  a 


10        THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SH.\DOWS 
nearer  glimpse  of  that  chateau.     It  must  have 
a  lovely  view  over  the  tops  of  the  olive  trees." 

She  touched  the  mare,  who  changed  from  a 
trot  into  a  gallop.  In  five  minutes  more  they 
would  be  imder  the  castle;  but  almost  instantly 
Loria,  obliged  to  follow,  had  caught  up  with 
her  again. 

"One  of  the  greatest  sorrows  of  my  life  is 
connected  with  this  valley,"  he  answered  des- 
perately. "Now  will  you  take  pity  upon  me 
and  turn  roimd.?" 

Virginia  hesitated.  The  man's  voice  shook. 
She  did  not  know  whether  to  yield  or  to  feel 
contempt  because  he  showed  emotion  so  much 
more  readily  than  her  English  and  American 
friends.  But  while  she  hesitated  they  were 
joined  by  her  cousin,  Sir  Roger  Broom,  who 
had  been  riding  behind  with  her  half-brother, 
Creoi^  Trent,  and  Lady  Gardiner. 

"Look  here,  Loria,"  he  exclaimed,  with  a 
certain  excitement  underlying  his  tone;  "it  has 
just  occurred  to  me  that  this  is  —  er  —  the 
place  that's  been  nicknamed  for  the  last  few 
years  the  *  Valley  of  the  Shadow.'" 


WHERE   DREAML.VND  BEGAN  11 

"You  are  right,"  answered  Loria.  "That 
is  why  I  didn't  wish  to  come  in." 

Sir  Roger  nodded  toward  the  chateau,  which 
now  loomed  over  them,  gray,  desolate,  one  half 
in   ruins,   yet   picturesquely   beautiful   both   in 

position  and  architecture.     "Then  that  is " 

he  began,  but  the  Italian  cut  him  short. 

"  Yes.  And  won't  you  help  me  persuade  ^liss 
Beverly  that  we've  seen  enough  of  this  valley 
now?" 

"Why,  the  castle's  for  scde!*^  cried  Virginia 
suddenly,  before  Roger  Broom  had  had  time  to 
speak. 

She  pointed  to  one  of  the  tall  gate-posts  at  the 
foot  of  the  hill,  close  to  the  road,  which  showed 
a  notice-board  annoimcing  in  both  French  and 
Italian  that  the  Chateau  de  la  Roche  was  to  be 
sold,  permission  to  view  being  obtainable  within. 

"Poor  people;  they  must  have  been  reduced 
to  sad  straits  indeed!"  murmured  Sir  Roger, 
looking  at  the  board  with  its  faded  lettering, 
half  defaced  by  time  and  weather. 

"  Yes,  it  was  all  very  imf ortimate,  very  miser- 
able," Loria  said  hastily.     "Shall  we  go  back  ?" 


12        THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

The  Englishman  seemed  hardly  to  hear.  "  I'd 
seen  photographs  of  the  valley,  but  I'd  quite 
forgotten,  until  suddenly  it  began  to  look  famil- 
iar.    Then,  all  in  a  flash,  I  remembered." 

"What  do  you  remember;  and  why  do  you 
call  this  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow  .?*'  demanded 
Virginia.  "  You  are  both  very  mysterious.  But 
perhaps  it's  the  influence  of  the  place.  Every- 
thing seems  mysterious  here." 

Roger  Broom  sighed,  and  roused  himself  with 
an  effort  from  his  reverie.  "Queer  that  we 
should  have  drifted  here  by  accident,"  he  said 
—  "especially  with  you,  Loria." 

"Why  especially  with  me.^"  the  other  asked 
with  a  certain  sharpness. 

"You  were  the  poor  fellow's  friend.  Oh, 
Virginia,  forgive  me  for  not  answering  you. 
This  place  is  reminiscent  of  tragedy.  A  man 
whom  I  used  to  know  slightly,  and  Loria  inti- 
mately, lived  here.  That  grim  old  house  perched 
up  on  the  hillside  has  been  the  home  of  his 
ancestors  for  hundreds  of  years.  Now,  you  see, 
it  is  for  sale.  But  it's  likely  to  remain  so. 
Who  would  buy  it?" 


WHERE  DREAMLAND  BEGAN  IS 

"  Why  not  ?"  asked  Virginia.  "  Is  it  haunted  ?" 

"Only  by  melancholy  thoughts  of  a  family 
ruined,  a  man  cut  off  from  life  at  its  best  and 
brightest,  to  be  sent  into  exile  worse  than  death. 
By  the  way,  Loria,  do  you  know  what  became 
of  the  sister.?" 

**  I  have  heard  that  she  still  lives  here  with 
an  aunt  and  one  old  servant,"  answered  the 
Italian,  his  face  gray-white  in  the  greenish  dusk 
of  the  olive  woods. 

"Is  it  possible?  What  a  life  for  a  girl!  I 
suppose  that  there  is  absolutely  not  money 
enough  to  keep  up  another  establishment,  no 
matter  how  small.  Why,  were  there  no  rela- 
tives —  no  one  to  help .?" 

"The  relatives  all  believed  in  her  brother's 
guilt,  and  she  would  have  nothing  to  do  with 
them.  As  for  help,  her  family  is  a  difficult  one 
to  help.  Of  course  it  would  be  a  good  thing 
for  her  to  sell  the  chateau." 

Virginia  sat  her  horse  between  the  two  others, 
impatient  and  curious.  It  was  easy  to  see  how 
distasteful  the  conversation  was  to  the  Marchese 
Loria.     He  answered  Sir  Roger's  questions  only 


14         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

by  an  effort;  and  as  for  her  cousin,  even  he  was 
moved  out  of  the  imperturbable  sang-jroid  which 
sometimes  pleased,  sometimes  irritated  Vir- 
ginia, according  to  her  mood. 

"Was  it  because  of  this  young  man's  guilt 
that  the  place  was  called  the  Valley  of  the 
Shadow  ?"  she  asked  again. 

"Yes.  A  mere  nickname,  of  course,  though 
an  ominous  one,"  said  Roger.  "You  see,  the 
Dalahaides  used  to  keep  open  house,  and  spend  a 
great  deal  of  money  at  one  time,  so  that  their 
ruin  threw  a  gloom  over  the  country  even  colder 
than  the  evening  shadows.  The  father  took 
his  own  life  in  shame  and  despair,  the  mother 
died  of  grief,  and  only  a  girl  is  left  of  the  four 
who  used  to  be  so  happy  together." 

"But  what  of  the  fourth  —  the  brother.?" 
In  spite  of  herself,  Virginia's  voice  sank,  and  the 
penetrating  chill  of  the  valley  crept  into  her 
spirit. 

"He  is  worse  than  dead,"  answered  Roger 
evasively.  "By  Jove!  Loria  is  right.  It  is 
cold  here.     Let  us  turn  back." 

"I    should    like    to    buy     that     chateau," 


WHERE  DREAMLAND  BEGAN  15 

announced  the  American  girl,  as  calmly  as  if 
she  had  spoken  of  acquiring  a  new  brooch. 

"Good  gracious!  What  next  ?"  exclaimed  Sir 
Roger.     "But  you're  not  in  earnest,  of  course." 

"I  am  in  earnest,"  said  she.  "I  should  love 
to  have  it.  It's  an  ideal  house,  set  on  that  great 
rocky  hill,  and  ringed  round  with  olive  groves. 
Though  the  sun  is  gone  so  soon  from  the  bot- 
tom of  the  valley,  where  we  are,  the  chateau 
windows  are  still  bright.  The  place  fascinates 
me.  I  am  going  to  ride  in  and  ask  to  see  the 
house.     Who  will  come  with  me.?" 

Virginia  looked  at  the  Marchese  with  a  half- 
smiling  challenge;  but  he  did  not  speak,  and 
Lady  Gardiner's  black  eye  gave  out  a  flash. 
She  was  as  poor  as  she  was  handsome  and 
well-born,  and  her  life  as  the  American  girl's 
chaperon  was  an  easy  one.  The  thought  that 
Virginia  Beverly  might  make  up  her  mind  to 
become  the  Marchesa  Loria  was  disagreeable  to 
Kate  Gardiner,  and  she  was  glad  that  the 
Italian  should  displease  the  spoilt  beauty. 

"I'll  go  with  you,  dear,  if  you  are  really  bent 
on  the  adventure,"  said  the  elder  woman. 


16         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"  Forgive  me,  Miss  Beverly.  But  I  —  once 
knew  these  people.  I  could  not  go  into  their 
house  on  such  an  errand.  They  would  think  I 
had  come  to  spy  on  their  misfortune,"  pro- 
tested Loria  miserably. 

**I  knew  them  too,"  said  Roger  Broom, 
"and  I'll  stay  down  here  and  keep  Loria 
company." 

Lady  Gardiner  looked  at  George  Trent,  with 
whom  she  was  having  an  amusing  flirtation, 
which  would  certainly  have  been  more  than 
amusing  if  he  had  been  only  a  quarter  as  rich 
as  his  half-sister. 

"I'll  take  you  and  Virgie  up  to  the  door,  any- 
how," he  responded  to  the  look,  and  springing 
from  his  horse,  he  pushed  open  the  tall  gate  of 
rusty  iron. 

Then,  mounting  again,  the  three  passed 
between  the  gray  stone  gate-posts  with  an 
ancient  carved  escutcheon  obliterated  with  moss 
and  lichen.  They  rode  along  the  grass-grown 
avenue  which  wound  up  the  hill  among  the 
cypresses  and  olive  trees,  coming  out  at  last,  as 
they  neared  the  chateau,  from  shadow  into  a 


WHERE  DREAMLAND  BEGAN  17 

pale,  chastened  sunshine  which  among  the 
gray-green  trees  had  somewhat  the  effect  of 
moonlight. 

"Have  you  ever  heard  of  the  Dalahaides?" 
Virginia  demanded  of  her  chaperon. 

*'If  I  have,  I've  forgotten,"  said  Lady  Gardi- 
ner. "And  yet  there  does  seem  to  be  a  dim 
memory  of  something  strange  hovering  at  the 
back  of  my  brain." 

They  were  above  the  grove  now,  on  a  terrace 
with  a  perspective  of  ruined  garden,  whence 
the  battered  faces  of  ancient  statues  peeped  out, 
yellow-white  from  behind  overgrown  rose  bushes 
and  heliotrope.  The  chateau  was  before  them^ 
the  windows  still  reflecting  the  sunlight;  but 
this  borrowed  glitter  was  all  the  brightness  it  had. 
Once  beautiful,  the  old  battlemented  house  had 
an  air  of  proud  desolation,  as  if  scorning  pity, 
since  it  could  no  longer  win  admiration. 

"You  would  have  to  spend  thousands  of 
pounds  in  restoring  this  old  ruin  if  you  should 
really  buy  it,  Virginia,"  said  Lady  Gardiner. 

"Well,  wouldn't  it  be  worth  while  to  spend 
them.f^"    asked    the   girl.     "I    certainly " 


18        THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

She  stopped  in  the  midst  of  her  sentence,  a 
bright  flush  springing  to  her  face;  for  turning 
a  comer  of  the  avenue  which  brought  them  close 
to  the  chateau,  they  came  suddenly  upon  a 
young  woman,  dressed  in  black,  who  must  have 
heard  their  last  words. 

Instantly  George  Trent  had  his  hat  in  his 
hand,  and  before  Virginia  could  speak  he  had 
dismoimted  and  plunged  into  explanations. 
He  begged  pardon  for  the  intrusion,  and  said 
that,  as  they  had  seen  the  announcement  that 
the  chateau  was  for  sale,  they  had  ventured  to 
ride  up  in  the  hope  of  being  allowed  to  see 
the  house.  As  he  spoke,  in  fairly  good  though 
rather  laboured  French,  he  smiled  on  the  girl 
in  black  with  a  charming  smile,  very  like  Vir- 
ginia's. And  Lady  Gardiner  looked  from  one  to 
the  other  gravely.  She  was  not  as  pleased  as 
she  had  been  that  George  Trent  had  come  here 
with  them,  for  the  girl  in  the  shabby  black 
dress  had  a  curiously  arresting,  if  not  beautiful 
face,  and  her  surroundings,  the  background  of 
the  desolate  castle,  and  the  circumstances  of 
the  meeting,  framed  her  in  romance. 


WHEEE  DREAMLAND  BEGAN  19 

Lady  Gardiner  did  not  like  the  alacrity  with 
which  Trent  had  snatched  off  his  hat  and 
sprung  from  his  horse,  nor  did  she  approve  of 
the  expression  in  his  eyes,  though  Virginia's 
were  just  as  eager. 

To  the  surprise  of  all  three,  the  girl  answered 
in  English;  not  the  English  of  a  French  jeune 
file,  instructed  by  an  imported  "Miss,"  but  the 
English  of  an  Englishwoman,  pure  and  sweet, 
though  the  voice  was  sad  and  lifeless.  Her 
melancholy  dark  eyes,  deep  and  sombre  as 
mountain  tarns,  wandered  from  the  brother's 
handsome  face  to  the  beautiful  one  of  the  sister. 

"Pray  don't  speak  of  an  intrusion,"  she  said. 
"  Our  servant  will  be  glad  to  show  you  through  the 
house,  and  afterward,  if  you  really  think  of  buy- 
ing the  place,  he  will  give  you  the  address  of  an 
agent  in  Mentone  who  can  tell  you  everything." 

"  Then  shan't  we  find  you  again  when  we  have 
seen  the  chateau.?^"  asked  Virginia  wistfully. 

The  girl  smiled  for  the  first  time,  but  there  was 
no  brightness  in  the  smile.  "I  shall  be  very 
pleased  to  speak  with  you  before  you  go  if  there 
is  anything  you  care  to  say  to  me,"  she  replied. 


20         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

mechanically  raising  the  great  bunch  of  helio- 
trope she  had  been  gathering  to  her  lips. 

"  Now  I  will  call  our  servant.  He  will  put  up 
your  horses  while  you  go  in;  though  I'm  afraid 
that  we  have  no  very  good  accommodation  for 
them,  as  our  stables  have  been  empty  for  a  long 
time." 

"Oh,  thank  you,  we  needn't  give  him  that 
trouble,"  said  Trent.  "I  can  fasten  the  horses' 
bridles  to  some  tree  or  other,  and  they  will  be 
all  right." 

The  girl  disappeared,  a  slender,  youthful 
figure  in  the  plain  black  gown,  yet  her  step, 
though  it  was  not  slow,  had  none  of  the  lith- 
someness  of  youth.  She  seemed  to  have  lost 
all  joy  of  life,  though  she  could  scarcely  have 
been  more  than  twenty-two  or  three. 

"Another  mystery!"  Virginia  said  in  a  low 
voice.  "  How  comes  she  to  be  English  ?  Is  she 
the  girl  they  were  talking  about  down  below, 
or  is  she  a  companion  .?*" 

"She  looks  like  a  banished  princess,"  said 
Trent.  *'I  never  saw  such  wonderful  eyes. 
Deep  as  a  well,  reflecting  a  night  of  stars." 


WHERE  DREAMLAND  BEGAN  21 

Lady  Gardiner's  lips  tightened  a  little.  She 
was  rather  vain  of  her  eyes.  "I  think  the  girl 
would  appear  a  very  ordinary  young  person," 
she  remarked,  "if  one  saw  her  anywhere  but 
here." 

George  lifted  her  down  from  the  horse  with- 
out answering,  but  Virginia  did  not  wait  to  be 
helped.  She  sprang  to  the  ground,  and  by  the 
time  that  George  had  tethered  the  horses  an  old 
man  in  a  faded  livery  came  limping  out  from 
the  side  door  through  which  the  girl  in  black 
had  lately  disappeared. 

Almost  crippled  with  rheumatism,  he  had 
still  all  the  dignity  of  a  trusted  servant  of  an 
ancient  house,  and  his  old  eyes  seemed  gravely 
to  defy  these  prosperous  young  people  to  criti- 
cize his  threadbare  clothing. 

"Mademoiselle"  had  desired  him  to  take 
monsieur  and  mesdames  over  the  chateau,  he 
politely  announced  in  French,  and  went  on  to 
beg  that  they  would  give  themselves  the  trouble 
of  being  conducted  to  the  door  at  the  front,  that 
they  might  go  in  by  the  great  hall.  He  also 
regretted  that  the  visitors  had  not  arrived  earlier 


22         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

in  the  day,  as  the  rooms  could  not  be  seen  at 
their  best  advantage  so  near  to  sunset. 

Virginia's  heart  began  to  beat  oddly  as  she 
entered  the  house.  She  had  still  the  feeling  of 
having  left  realities  behind  and  strayed  into 
dreamland;  but  with  the  opening  of  the  heavy 
door  it  seemed  to  her  that  the  dream  was  about 
to  change  into  a  vision  which  would  mean  some- 
thing for  her  future. 

Of  course  it  was  all  nonsense,  she  told  her- 
self, as  the  old  man  led  them  across  the  shadowy, 
tapestry-hung  hall,  and  from  one  huge,  dim, 
wainscotted  or  frescoed  room  to  another;  yet 
always,  as  they  approached  a  doorway,  she 
caught  herself  thinking  —  "Now  a  strange 
thing  is  going  to  happen." 

"This  is  the  state  drawing-room;  this  is  the 
library;  this  is  the  chapel;  this  is  the  bride's 
suite,"  the  servant  announced  laconically.  But 
though  the  castle  was  evidently  very  ancient 
and  must  have  a  private  history  of  its  own,  cen- 
turies old,  he  offered  no  garrulous  details  of 
past  grandeur,  as  most  servants  would.  As 
they  walked  through  a  dining-room  of  magnif- 


WHERE  DREAMLAND  BEGAN  23 

icent  proportions,  but  meagrely  furnished,  they 
passed  a  half-open  door,  and  Virginia  had  a 
glimpse  of  a  charming  little  room  with  a  huge 
projecting  window.  Mechanically  she  paused, 
then  drew  away  quickly  as  she  saw  that  made- 
moiselle was  seated  at  a  table  arranging  the 
flowers  she  had  gathered  in  the  melancholy  gar- 
den. The  old  man  hobbled  on,  as  if  the  door  had 
not  existed,  and  Virginia  would  have  followed, 
had  not  the  girl  in  black  stepped  forward  and 
invited  them  in,  with  a  certain  proud  humility. 

"  This  is  our  sitting-room  —  my  aunt's  and 
mine,"  she  said.  "My  aunt  is  not  here  now, 
so  come  in,  if  you  will.  It  is  a  small  room; 
still,  it  is  one  of  the  brightest  and  most  home- 
like we  have  left." 

She  held  open  the  door,  and  the  three  visitors 
obeyed  her  gesture  of  invitation;  but  suddenly 
the  girl's  face  changed.  The  blood  streamed 
up  to  her  forehead,  then  ebbed  again,  leaving 
her  marble-pale.  She  gave  a  slight  start,  as 
if  she  would  have  changed  her  mind  and  kept 
the  strangers  from  entering;  yet  she  made  no 
motion  to  arrest  them. 


94         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"She  has  just  remembered  something  in  this 
room  that  she  doesn't  wish  us  to  see,"  thought 
Virginia;  but  it  was  too  late  to  retreat,  without 
drawing  attention  to  an  act  which  she  could  not 
explain.  They  all  went  in,  the  others  appar- 
ently suspecting  nothing;  but  in  a  second  Vir- 
ginia instinctively  guessed  the  reason  of  her 
hostess's  sudden  constraint,  and  the  sympa- 
thetic thrill  that  ran  through  her  own  veins 
surprised  her.  In  a  panel  of  the  darkly  wain- 
scotted  and  curiously  gilded  wall  was  placed 
a  life-size  portrait  of  a  man.  It  was  an  oil- 
painting,  defective  in  technique,  perhaps,  but 
so  spirited,  so  extraordinarily  lifelike  as  to 
give  an  effect,  at  first  glance  in  the  twilight,  as  if 
a  handsome  young  man  were  just  stepping  in 
through  an  open  door.  Virginia  seemed  to 
meet  the  brilliant,  audacious  eyes;  the  frank, 
almost  boyish  smile  was  for  her;  and  —  whether 
because  of  the  half-told  story  of  this  strange 
house,  or  because  of  the  brave  young  splen- 
dour of  the  figure  m  the  portrait  —  her  heart 
gave  a  boimd  such  as  it  had  never  yet  given  for 
a  man. 


WHERE  DREAMLAND  BEGAN  25 

She  did  not  need  to  be  told  that  this  was  the 
counterfeit  presentment  of  him  who,  in  some 
mysterious  way,  had  brought  ruin  upon  those 
who  loved  him;  and  suddenly  she  understood 
the  full  meaning  of  Loria's  words  when  he  had 
said,  "The  relatives  all  believed  in  his  guilt,  so 
his  sister  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  them." 

Virginia  Beverly,  headstrong,  wilful,  passion- 
ate, was  only  superficially  spoilt  by  the  flattery 
which  had  been  her  daily  diet  as  a  great  beauty 
and  a  great  heiress.  She  was  impulsive,  but 
her  impulses  were  true  and  often  unselfish. 
Now  her  warm  heart  went  out  to  meet  the  loyal 
heart  of  the  pale,  sad  girl  in  black,  whom  an 
hour  ago  she  had  never  seen,  whose  very  name 
she  had  not  known.  "She  is  right  to  believe 
in  him,"  Virginia  said  to  herself.  "Loyalty  is 
the  finest  virtue  of  all.  I  believe  in  him  too. 
Whatever  crime  they  say  he  committed,  I'm 
sure  he  was  innocent.  What  —  a  criminal, 
with  that  face?  It's  not  possible,  and  I  wish 
I  could  tell  her  so." 

She  could  scarcely  tear  her  eyes  from  the 
portrait,  though  she  feared  to  let  her  interest 


26         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

be  observed,  lest  it  should  unjustly  be  put  down 
to  vulgar  curiosity.  And  when  the  old  man  who 
conducted  them,  having  met  and  answered  a 
quick  glance  from  his  mistress,  invited  the 
visitors  to  continue  their  tour  of  inspection, 
Virginia  left  her  thoughts  behind  in  the  room 
of  the  portrait,  walking  as  in  a  dream  through 
the  series  of  lofty,  half-dismantled  apartments 
which  still  remained  to  be  visited. 

She  hoped  that,  when  they  should  see  their 
hostess  again  for  the  promised  leave-taking,  it 
would  be  in  the  same  room  as  before.  But  she 
was  doomed  to  disappointment.  Mademoiselle 
met  the  party  in  the  great  hall,  and,  hearing 
from  George  Trent  that  his  sister  thought  seri- 
ously of  buying  the  chateau,  gave  them  the 
address  of  an  estate  agent  in  Mentone. 

Virginia  was  not  a  self-centred  girl,  and  at 
any  other  time  she  would  have  been  surprised  at 
the  encouragement  given  to  this  new  whim  of 
hers  by  her  half-brother;  she  would  have  sought 
some  underlying  cause,  for  George  Trent  — 
who  was  her  mother's  son  by  a  first  marriage  — 
was  nearly  five  years  older  than  she,  and  rather 


WHERE  DREAMLAND  BEGAN  27 

piqued  himself  upon  influencing  her  to  ways 
of  wisdom.  But  now,  though  he  extolled  the 
charms  of  the  Chateau  de  la  Roche,  and  made 
light  of  the  expenses  of  restoration,  as  they  rode 
down  the  avenue  under  the  olive  trees,  Virginia 
was  too  much  occupied  with  the  mystery  of 
the  house  and  the  portrait's  original  to  observe 
the  young  man's  manner.  It  did  not  escape 
Lady  Gardiner's  observation,  however,  and 
her  thoughts  were  troubled. 

She  was  thirty-six  and  George  Trent  was  ten 
years  younger;  but  she  confessed  to  twenty-nine, 
and  really  did  not  look  more,  except  when  cer- 
tain worries,  which  she  usually  kept  in  the  back- 
ground, pressed  heavily  upon  her.  For  a  year, 
ever  since  Virginia  had  left  America  for  Eng- 
land and  the  Continent,  she  had  lived  with  the 
sister  and  brother,  and  had  been  reaping  a  har- 
vest almost  literally  of  gold  and  diamonds.  She 
did  not  want  Virginia  to  marry  and  free  herself 
from  chaperonage;  and  if  she  could  not  marry 
George  Trent  herself,  since  he  was  neither 
old  enough  nor  rich  enough,  she  could  not  bear 
the  thought  that  he  might  forget  his  passing 


«8         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 
admiration  for  her,  and  fall  seriously  in  love 
with  some  one  else. 

She,  too,  was  curious  concerning  made- 
moiselle and  her  past,  but  with  a  very  different 
curiosity  from  Virginia's,  and  she  determined 
to  learn  the  story  of  the  Dalahaides  and  their 
chateau  above  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow.  She 
did  not,  however,  wish  to  appear  curious  before 
Virginia  or  her  brother,  and  hoped  that  the  Amer- 
ican girl,  with  her  wonted  audacity,  would  at 
once  approach  the  topic  when  they  had  rejoined 
Sir  Roger  Broom  and  the  Marchese  Loria. 
But  Virginia  asked  no  questions,  contenting  her- 
self with  answering  those  of  her  cousin,  which 
for  some  reason  confined  themselves  entirely  to 
the  chateau.  Lady  Gardiner  was  sure,  since 
he  admitted  having  known  the  Dalahaides,  that, 
being  human,  Roger  would  have  liked  to  hear 
something  of  the  girl  who  lived  there  like  Mari- 
ana in  the  Moated  Grange;  and  it  would  have 
been  interesting  to  know  why  he  refrained  from 
mentioning  her. 

As  they  rode  through  the  valley,  dark  and  sad 
now,  in  the  chill  of  its  early  dusk,  she  brought 


WHERE  DREAMLAND  BEGAN  29 

her  horse  to  Virginia's  side  in  so  narrow  a  defile 
of  the  road  that  Roger,  who  was  with  the  girl, 
dropped  behind. 

"Have  you  noticed  that  the  Marchese  hasn't 
asked  us  a  single  question  about  your  chateau  ?'* 
she  remarked.  "He  is  a  changed  man  since  we 
came  into  this  valley.  I  wonder  if  there  was  ever 
anything  between  him  and  that  tragic-looking 
girl  up  there  .'^  Perhaps  Sir  Roger  knows,  and 
that's  the  reason  he  didn't  speak  of  her." 

"Perhaps,"  echoed  Virginia  listlessly,  and 
Kate  Gardiner  said  no  more. 

An  odd  restraint  seemed  to  have  settled  on 
the  whole  party,  which  had  started  out  so  gaily 
in  the  sunshine.  Each  one  was  sunk  deep  in 
his  or  her  own  thoughts,  as  if  the  twilight  had 
touched  them  with  its  delicate  melancholy. 

They  were  stopping  at  the  Cap  Martin  hotel, 
high  on  the  hill  in  its  beautiful  garden,  and 
among  its  pines;  and  there  was  a  dance  that 
night,  for  which  Virginia  had  promised  Loria 
several  waltzes;  but  she  complained  that  the 
ride  had  tired  her. 

Instead  of  dancing  she  went  after  dinner  to 


30         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

the  private  sitting-room  which  she  and  Lady 
Gardiner  shared,  having  quietly  asked  Roger 
Broom  if  he  would  come  to  her  there  for  a  few 
minutes.  He  found  her,  not  in  the  room,  but 
on  the  balcony,  in  floods  of  moonlight,  which 
gave  her  beauty  an  unearthly  charm  as  she  lay 
on  a  chaise  longue,  wrapped  in  an  evening  cloak 
of  white  and  silver  brocade. 

"You  don't  mind  leaving  the  dance  a  little 
while  —  for  me.''**  she  asked. 

Roger  smiled  his  quiet,  pleasant  smile. 
"There's  nothing  in  the  world  I  would  mind 
leaving  for  you,  Virginia,"  he  said,  "and  I 
think  you  know  that  very  well.** 

"  Sometimes  I  believe  it's  true.  I  should  like 
to  believe  it  to-night,"  she  answered,  "because 
I  need  your  help.  There's  a  secret,  and  I  must 
find  it  out.'* 

As  the  girl  spoke  there  was  a  slight  sound  in 
the  room  beyond  the  big,  open  window. 

"What's  that.?"  exclaimed  Roger.  "Who  is 
there.?" 

"Nobody,**  said  Virginia.  "It  must  be  a  log 
of  olive-wood  falling  in  the  fireplace. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE   STORY  TOLD   BY  TWO 

ROGER  waited.  He  knew  that  Virginia 
was  gathering  her  forces  together,  and 
that  he  might  expect  the  unexpected. 

"I  want  you  to  tell  me  all  about  that  girl  in 
mourning  who  lives  at  the  Chateau  de  la 
Roche,"  she  said  after  a  moment;  "and  what 
her  brother  did." 

Roger  was  slow  in  answering.  "It's  not  a 
pleasant  story  for  your  ears.  I  was  sorry  this 
afternoon  that  I  had  spoken  even  as  freely 
as  I  did  about  it  before  you.  Loria  took 
me  to  task  rather,  after  you'd  gone  up  to 
the  chateau,  and  he  was  right.  By  Jove! 
Virginia,  I  believe  that  if  I'd  said  nothing, 
the  idea  of  buying  the  place  would  never  have 
occurred  to  you." 

"Perhaps  not,"  she  admitted.  "But  it  has 
occurred  to  me,  and  once  I  have  an  idea  in  my 

81 


S2         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

head  I  keep  it  tenaciously  —  as  all  my  long- 
suffering  friends  know  to  their  sorrow.  Will  you 
go  to-morrow  to  the  agent  whose  address  I  have 
and  make  inquiries?'* 

"Certainly,  if  you  wish." 

"  Oh,  you  think  if  no  one  thwarts  me,  1*11  get 
over  the  fancy.  But  I  won't!  I'm  going  to  have 
that  chateau  among  the  olive  trees  for  mine  if  it 
costs  me  fifty  thousand  pounds  (which  it  won't, 
I  know),  even  if  I  only  live  in  it  for  one  month 
out  of  five  years.  The  thing  is,  to  feel  it's  my 
own.  So  now,  you  see,  as  the  place  is  practically 
my  property,  naturally  I'd  like  to  know  some- 
thing of  the  people  who  have  been  its  owners." 

**I  don't  see  why.  When  one  buys  a  house 
one  doesn't  usually  agitate  oneself  much  about 
the  family  history  of  one's  predecessors.'* 

"Roger,  you  know  this  is  different.  I  want 
you  and  no  one  to  else  tell  me.  Still,  if  you 
won't " 

"Oh,  if  you  insist  you  must  be  gratified,  I 
suppose,  up  to  certain  limits.  What  do  you 
want  to  know?" 

"Everything." 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  33 

*'H'm!  Rather  too  large  an  order,  my  child. 
However,  to  begin  with,  the  Dalahaides  of  the 

-  Chateau  de  la  Roche  were  English  in  the  last 
generation,  but  the  family  is  of  French  origin. 
When  the  last  member  of  the  French  branch 
died,  a  banker  in  London  was  the  next  heir. 
He  gave  the  chateau  and  the  Dalahaide  house 

-  in  Paris  as  a  wedding  present  to  his  son,  who 
.  was    about    to   be    married.     The    bride    and 

bridegroom  came  over  on  their  honeymoon, 
and  took  such  a  fancy  to  the  chateau 
that  they  made  their  home  there,  or  rather 
between  it  and  the  old  house  in  Paris.  This 
young  couple  had  in  time  a  son,  and  then 
a  daughter.  Perhaps  you  saw  the  daughter 
-to-day.?" 

"Yes,  it  was  she.  You  didn't  ask  me  about 
her  before." 

"No;  the  fact  is,  I  thought  that  further  con- 
versation on  the  subject  would  be  too  painful 
for  poor  Loria.  You  must  have  seen  that  he 
was  upset." 

"I  couldn't  help  seeing.     But  go  on." 

"Well,  the  father  and  mother  and  their  two 


34         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

children  were  a  most  devoted  family.  They 
were  all  handsome  and  clever  and  popular,  and 
if  they  were  not  millionaires,  they  were  extrav- 
agant, for  they  gave  delightful  entertainments 
here  and  in  Paris,  and  their  purses  were  open 
for  any  one  who  wished  to  dip  in  his  fingers. 

"The  son  Maxime,  always  called  Max,  in- 
herited his  father's  generous,  reckless,  extrava- 
gant ways.  He  was  drawn  into  the  fastest 
set  in  Paris,  and  lost  a  lot  of  money  at  baccarat. 
That  wouldn't  have  mattered  much,  perhaps,  if 
at  the  same  time  some  large  investments  of  the 
father's  hadn't  gone  wrong  and  crippled  the 
family  resources.  Then,  as  misfortunes  gener- 
ally come  in  crowds,  there  was  a  slight  earth- 
quake along  this  part  of  the  coast,  and  the 
chateau  was  partly  ruined,  as  you  saw  to-day, 
for  they  were  not  able  then  to  have  it  restored. 
*Next  year,'  they  said;  but  there  was  no  next 
year  for  the  Dalahaides.  Only  a  few  months 
after  the  first  two  blows  came  the  third,  which 
was  to  crush  the  family  for  ever.  Max  Dala- 
haide  was  accused  of  murder,  tried,  and  con- 
demned." 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  35 

"  What  —  he  is  dead,  then  ?  I  thought  you 
said — I "  Virginia's  heart  gave  so  sud- 
den and  violent  a  bound  that  she  stammered, 
and  grew  red  and  white  under  the  revealing 
moonlight.  She  was  thinking  of  the  portrait 
— seeing  it  again,  looking  into  the  eyes  which 
had  seemed  to  speak.  Dead!  Executed  as 
a  murderer!  The  thought  was  horrible;  it 
stifled  her. 

"No,  he  is  not  dead,"  answered  Roger 
gravely;  "at  least,  if  he  is  I  haven't  heard  of  it. 
But  —  if  he  still  exists  —  one  can't  call  it  living 
—  he  must  have  wished  a  hundred  times  a  day 
to  die  and  be  out  of  his  misery.  Perhaps  death 
has  come  to  him.  It  might,  and  I  not  have 
known;  for  from  out  of  the  pit  which  has 
engulfed  him,  seldom  an  echo  reaches  the  world 
above." 

"Roger,  you  frighten  me!  What  do  you 
mean.?"  the  girl  exclaimed. 

"Forgive  me,  child.  I  forgot  for  a  moment, 
and  was  thinking  aloud.  I  don't  often  forget 
you,  do  I  .P  I  said  to-day  that  Max  Dalahaide  was 
dead  in  life.    That  is  true.    Family  influence,  the 


86         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

tremendous  eloquence  of  a  man  engaged  to  plead 
his  cause,  the  fact  that  Max  insisted  upon  his 
innocence,  while  the  evidence  was  entirely  cir- 
cumstantial, saved  him  from  the  guillotine, 
which  I  believe  he  would  have  preferred,  in  his 
desperation.  He  was  sent  to  that  Hades  upon 
earth.  New  Caledonia,  a  prisoner  for  life." 

"But  —  he  was  English!'* 

"No.  His  parents  had  been  English,  but  he, 
having  been  born  in  France,  was  a  French  sub- 
ject. He  had  even  served  his  time  in  the  army. 
Naturally  he  was  amenable  to  French  law;  and 
he  is  buried  alive  in  Noumea,  the  most  terrible 
prison  in  the  world." 

"And  he  was  innocent!" 

Roger,  who  had  been  gazing  out  over  the  sea, 
turned  a  surprised  look  upon  Virginia. 

"No!  He  was  not  innocent,"  he  said  quickly. 
"Everything  proved  his  guilt.  It  is  impossible 
that  he  should  have  been  innocent." 

"His  sister  believed  in  him." 

"Yes,  his  sister.  What  does  that  prove.? 
The  father  thought  him  guilty,  and  killed  him- 
self.    As  for  the  mother  —  who  knows  ?    At  all 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  37 

events,  she  died  —  broken-hearted.  Every 
penny  the  family  possessed,  after  their  great 
losses,  went  for  Maxime's  defense;  but,  except 
that  his  life  was  saved,  it  was  in  vain." 

"  You  knew  him  —  he  was  your  friend  — 
yet  you  believed  in  his  guilt?'* 

"I  hardly  knew  him  well  enough  to  call  my- 
self a  friend.  I  admired  him,  certainly  Max 
Dalahaide  was  the  handsomest,  wittiest,  most 
fascinating  fellow  I  ever  met.  Neither  man 
nor  woman  could  resist  him,  if  he  set  out  to 
conquer.  Loria  and  he  were  like  brothers;  yet 
Loria  thought  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  He 
can't  be  blamed  for  disloyalty,  either,  for  really 
there  was  nothing  else  to  think,  if  one  used  one's 


reason. 
« 


If  he  had  been  my  friend,  I  would  not  have 
used  my  reason!"  exclaimed  Virginia.  "What 
is  the  use  of  reason,  when  one  has  instinct  ?  — 
and  that  is  never  wrong.  But  it  is  good  of  you 
to  defend  the  Marchese,  for  I  know  you  don't 
like  him." 

"Don't  I ?"  echoed  Roger.     "If  I  don't,  I'm 
afraid  it  is  because  you  do.     You  won't  have  me. 


38         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 
dear;  you've  told  me  that,  and  I  don't  mean  to 
bother  you  again;  but  I'm  weak  enough  to  be 
jealous  when  I  think  there's  danger  of  your 
saying  *  Yes'  to  anybody  else." 

"I  don't  know  that  there  is  any  such  danger 
in  this  case,"  said  Virginia.  "But  the  Marchese 
is  very  handsome,  and  rather  romantic,  and  he 
sings  like  an  angel.  Oh,  yes,  I  am  almost  in 
love  with  him  when  he  sings  —  or  I  was  till 
yesterday.  And  how  he  dances!  It's  poetry. 
When  I  am  waltzing  with  the  Marchese  Loria  I 
invariably  make  up  my  mind  that  I  will  accept 
him  next  time  he  asks.  Then,  afterward,  some- 
thing holds  me  back.  To-day,  in  that  valley  of 
shadows,  he  affected  me  quite  differently.  It 
was  as  if  —  as  if  the  shadows  had  shut  down 
between  us.  I  saw  him  in  the  shadow,  his 
features  changed  —  repellent.  As  the  French 
say,  he  'made  me  horror.'  Yet  I  didn't  know 
why.  Now  I  begin  to  understand.  It  was  my 
precious  instinct  warning  me,  saying:  *This 
man  is  disloyal.     Don't  trust  him.'" 

"You  are  unjust,"  said  Roger.  "I  should 
like  to  let  you  misjudge  him,   but  I  can't   be 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  S9 

a  bounder,  you  know.  He  really  behaved 
extremely  well  in  the  Dalahaide  affair.  The 
man  couldn't  believe,  against  a  mountain  of 
evidence;  nevertheless,  he  did  what  he  could 
for  his  friend,  guilty  as  he  thought  him.  All 
this  happened  four  years  ago,  when  you  were 
a  demure  little  schoolgirl  —  if  you  ever  could 
have  been  demure !  —  in  your  own  Virginia, 
not  allowed  even  to  hear  of,  much  less  read,  the 
great  newspaper  scandals  of  the  moment.  I 
can't  remember  every  detail  of  the  affair,  but 
it  was  said  to  be  largely  through  Loria's  efforts 
that  Max  was  saved  from  capital  punishment 
for  his  crime." 

"You  haven't  told  me  yet  what  that  crime 
was." 

"Yes.     I  have  said  it  was  murder." 

"Ah!  but  that  is  only  a  crude  statement.  I 
ask  for  the  story." 

"You  won't  have  it  from  me,  my  child,"  an- 
swered Roger  coolly.  "I'm  not  a  sensation- 
monger.  It  was  a  horrid  affair,  and  one 
doesn't  talk  of  such  things  to  little  girls.  Y"ou 
know  all  from  me  that  you  will  know.     Buy 


40         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

your  chateau,  if  you  choose.  You've  money 
enough  to  squander  on  twenty  such  toys  and 
not  miss  it.  No  doubt  poor  Madeleine  Dala- 
haide  will  be  benefited  by  the  exchange  — 
her  castle  for  your  money.  Fortunate  for  her, 
perhaps,  that  she  is  the  last  of  the  French  Dala- 
haides,  and  has  the  right  to  sell  the  chateau." 

"You  will  tell  me  nothing  more.?'* 

"Nothing." 

"Then  I  will  tell  you  one  thing.  I  believe 
that  the  man  w^as  innocent.  I  have  seen  his 
portrait.  I  have  seen  his  sister.  That  is 
enough  for  me.  But  what  you  will  not  tell  me 
I  shall  learn  for  myself,  and  then  —  and  then  — 
you  shall  see  what  you  shall  see." 


Virginia  slept  restlessly  that  night.  In  her 
dreams  she  was  always  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Shadow,  striving  to  find  her  way  out  into  the 
sunlight;  and  sometimes  the  valley  seemed  but 
the  entrance  to  that  bottomless  pit  of  shame 
where  Maxime  Dalahaide  was  entombed.  She 
awoke  from  a  dream  forgotten,  in  a  spasm  of 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  41 

cold  fear,  before  it  was  dawn,  and  switching  on 
the  electric  light  near  the  bed,  she  drew  her 
watch  from  under  the  pillow.  It  was  just  six 
o'clock;  and  for  a  few  moments  Virginia  lay 
still,  thinking  over  the  events  of  yesterday. 
After  all,  what  did  they  mean  for  her?  Noth- 
ing, said  Reason;  everything,  said  a  Voice 
to  which  she  could  give  no  name. 

Suddenly  her  heart  began  to  beat  quickly 
with  the  excitement  of  a  strange  thought  that 
seemed  to  spring  out  of  herself,  and  then  turn 
to  face  her.  It  pushed  the  girl  from  her  bed, 
and  she  rose,  shivering;  for  even  here  at  Cap 
Martin  it  was  cold  in  the  early  morning  before 
the  vivid  sun  had  warmed  the  air. 

She  was  used  to  lying  in  bed  until  a  jfire  of 
fragrant  pine  cones  and  olive  wood  crackled 
on  the  hearth,  and  her  own  maid  had  filled  the 
bath  in  the  bathroom  adjoining.  But  now 
she  bathed  in  the  cold,  dressing  herself  in  her 
riding-habit,  and  even  arranging  her  hair  with- 
out help.  By  seven  her  toilet  was  made,  and, 
turning  off  the  electric  light,  she  found  that  the 
sky  was  pink  and  golden  with  the  winter  sunrise. 


42         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

The  girl  rang  for  coffee,  and  ordered  her  horse 
to  be  ready.  She  and  Kate  Gardiner  never 
met  before  ten  o'clock,  at  earliest;  thus  three 
hours  would  pass  before  any  one  save  her  maid 
would  begin  to  wonder  where  she  was;  and  for 
the  maid  she  would  leave  a  line  of  explana- 
tion, mentioning  that  she  had  gone  out  on 
business,  and  that  nothing  was  to  be  said 
unless  Lady  Gardiner  inquired. 

Virginia  had  a  ride  of  nearly  two  hours  before 
she  could  reach  the  destination  she  had  planned; 
but  neither  the  fresh  air,  the  beauty  of  the  scene, 
nor  the  exercise  which  she  loved,  could  calm  the 
fever  in  her  blood.  It  was  as  if  some  power 
stronger  than  herself  pushed  her  on ;  and  though 
she  had  always  been  too  healthy  in  mind  and 
body  to  suffer  from  superstition,  she  now  be- 
lieved, half  fearfully,  that  such  an  influence 
had  possession  of  her. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  me.?"  she  asked. 
"I  am  no  longer  myself.  It  is  as  if  I  were  only 
an  instrument  in  hands  that  use  me  as  they 
will.  Why  do  I  go  this  morning  to  the  Chateau 
de  la  Roche?    I  don't  know.     I  don't  know 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  43 

what  I  shall  say  to  excuse  myself  when  I  am 
there.  Yet,  somehow,  the  words  will  come 
to  me  —  I  feel  it." 

For  it  was  to  the  chateau  above  the  Valley 
of  the  Shadow  that  she  was  going. 

When  she  reached  the  gates,  half-way  up  the 
slope  of  the  wooded  hill  which  the  whole  party 
had  climbed  together  yesterday,  suddenly  the 
nervous  exaltation  that  had  carried  her  coura- 
geously so  far,  broke  like  a  violin  string  too  tightly 
drawn.  She  was  horrified  at  her  own  bold- 
ness. She  half  turned  back;  then,  setting  her 
lips  together,  she  slipped  down  from  her 
saddle  and  opened  the  gate. 

This  morning  no  slim,  black-clad  figure  moved 
among  the  wilderness  of  neglected  flowers. 
Virginia  tethered  her  mare,  ascended  the  two 
or  three  stone  steps,  and  struck  the  mailed  glove 
of  iron  which  formed  the  knocker  on  the  oak  of 
the  door.  Its  echoes  went  reverberating  through 
wide,  empty  spaces,  and  for  some  moments  she 
stood  trembling  at  her  audacity.  She  said  to 
herself  that  she  could  not  knock  again.  If  no 
one  answered  the  last  summons  she  would  take 


44         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

it  as  a  sign  that  she  ought  not  to  have  come,  and 
she  would  steal  away.  But  just  as  the  limit  of 
time  she  mentally  set  had  passed,  and  she  was 
in  the  act  of  turning  from  the  door,  it  opened. 

The  servant  who  had  guided  Virginia  and  her 
friends  through  the  house  the  day  before  ap- 
peared, his  pale,  dignified  old  face  showing  such 
evident  signs  of  surprise  that  the  American  girl, 
who  had  never  flinched  before  any  one  or  any- 
thing, stammered  and  blushed  as  she  asked  for 
Mademoiselle  Dalahaide. 

The  old  man  politely  ushered  her  in,  but 
he  was  unable  to  hide  his  embarrassment. 
Mademoiselle  should  be  informed  at  once,  if 
she  were  at  home,  but,  in  fact,  it  was  pos- 
sible      He  hesitated,  and  Virginia  saw  well 

that  he  prepared  a  way  of  escape  for  his  young 
mistress  in  case  she  wished  to  avoid  the  unex- 
pected caller. 

"Pray   tell   mademoiselle   that  —  that " 

Vu-ginia  began.  She  had  meant  to  finish  by 
saying  that  her  business  was  urgent.  But  — 
supposing  when  she  found  herself  face  to  face 
with  the  girl  in  black,  the  fugitive  desires  which 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  45 

had  dragged  her  here  refused  to  be  clothed  in 
coherent  words  ? 

As  the  servant  waited  respectfully  for  the  end 
of  the  message,  a  door  which  Virginia  remem- 
bered as  leading  into  the  family  chapel  sud- 
denly opened.  Mademoiselle  Dalahaide  came 
slowly  out,  her  head  bent,  her  long  black  dress 
sweeping  the  stone  floor  of  the  hall  in  sombre 
folds.  She  did  not  see  the  stranger  at  first; 
but  a  faint  ejaculation  from  the  lips  of  the  old 
Frenchman  caused  the  dark  head  to  be  quickly 
raised. 

The  eyes  of  the  two  girls  met.  Mademois- 
elle Dalahaide  drew  back  a  little,  her  tragi- 
cally arresting  face  unlighted  by  a  smile.  She 
looked  the  question  that  she  did  not  speak; 
but  she  gave  the  American  no  greeting,  and 
there  was  something  of  displeasure  or  distrust 
in  her  level,  searching  look. 

The  moment  which  Virginia  had  dreaded, 
yet  sought  for,  had  come.  All  self-conscious- 
ness left  her.  She  went  to  meet  the  other  in 
an  eager,  almost  childlike  way. 

"Do  forgive  me,"  she  said  in  English.     "I 


46         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

had  to  come.  I  could  not  sleep  last  night.  I  got 
up  before  any  one  else  was  awake,  because  I 
—  because  I  wanted  so  much  to  see  you,  that 
I  couldn't  wait:  and  I  wanted  to  come  to  you 
alone." 

Madeleine  Dalahaide's  faint  frown  relaxed. 
Virginia  in  that  mood  was  irresistible,  even  to  a 
woman.  Still  the  girl  in  black  did  not  smile. 
She  had  almost  forgotten  that  it  was  necessary 
and  polite  to  force  a  smile  for  strangers.  She 
had  been  so  much  alone,  she  and  sorrow  had 
grown  so  intimate,  that  she  had  become  almost 
primitively  sincere.  The  ordinary,  pleasant 
little  hypocrisies  of  the  society  in  which  she 
had  once  lived  during  what  now  seemed  an- 
other state  of  existence,  no  longer  existed  for  her. 

Nevertheless,  she  was  not  discourteous. 
"You  are  kind  to  have  taken  this  trouble," 
she  said.  *'It  is  something  about  the  chateau, 
no  doubt  —  some  questions  which  perhaps  you 
forgot  to  ask  yesterday.^" 

The  old  man,  who  understood  not  a  word  of 
English,  had  discreetly  and  noiselessly  retired, 
now  that  fate  had  taken  the  management  of  the 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  47 

situation  from  his  hands.  The  two  girls  were 
alone  in  the  great  hall,  the  chapel  door  still  open 
behind  Madeleine  Dalahaide,  giving  her  a 
background  of  red  and  purple  light  from  a 
stained-glass  window. 

*'No,"  Virginia  answered.  "If  I  said  that 
business  about  the  chateau  brought  me,  it 
would  be  merely  an  excuse.  It  would  make 
things  easier  for  me  in  beginning,  but  —  I  wish 
to  say  to  you  only  things  that  are  really  true. 
I  came  because  —  because  I  want  to  help  you." 

The  white  oval  of  the  other's  face  was  sud- 
denly suffused  with  scarlet.  The  dark  head 
was  lifted  on  the  slender  throat. 

"Thank  you,"  she  said  coldly.  "But  I  am 
not  in  need  of  help.  If  that  is  your  reason  for 
thinking  of  buying  this  house,  I  beg " 

"But  it  is  not  my  reason.  What  can  I  say 
that  you  won't  misunderstand .?  There  is  one 
whom  you  love.  Just  now  you  were  praying  for 
him  in  that  chapel.  I  know  it.  You  were 
praying  to  God  to  help  him,  weren't  you.? 
Wliat  if  I  should  be  an  instrument  sent  you  to 
be  used  for  that  purpose.'^" 


48         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

The  tragic  eyes  stared  at  the  eager,  beau- 
tiful face,  dazed  and  astonished. 

Virginia  went  on,  not  seeming  to  choose  her 
words,  but  letting  them  flow  as  they  would. 

"I  know  how  you  have  suffered.  It  is  only  a 
little  while  that  I  have  known,  but  it  seems 
long,  very  long.  I  have  seen  his  portrait,  and 
partly  I  came  up  to  tell  you  this  morning 
that  I  believe  in  his  innocence;  partly  that, 
but  most  of  all  I  came  to  say  that  he  must 
be  saved." 

"  Saved  .^"  echoed  Madeleine  Dalahaide. 
"But  that  is  not  possible.  Only  death  can 
save  him  now." 

Neither  had  uttered  a  name;  neither  was 
aware  that  it  had  not  been  spoken  by  the  other. 
For  Madeleine  always,  for  Virginia  in  this  hour, 
one  name  rang  through  the  world.  There  was 
no  need  to  give  it  form.  And,  strangely, 
Madeleine  was  no  longer  surprised  at  Virginia's 
mission.  Perhaps,  indeed,  she  believed  her 
an  incarnate  answer  to  prayer;  and  in  a  mo- 
ment all  conventionalities  had  crumbled  to  pieces 
at  their  feet. 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  49 

"Why  do  you  say  that?"  cried  the  American 
girl.     "Prisoners  are  released  sometimes." 

"Not  life-prisoners  at  Noumea,"  replied  the 
other;  and  the  answer  fell  desolately  on  Virginia's 
ear.  Yet  the  thought,  lit  into  life  by  her  own 
words,  as  a  flame  is  lighted  by  striking  a  match, 
had  given  her  courage  which  would  not  die. 

"Then  he  will  be  the  first,"  she  said.  "I 
have  been  thinking.  Oh!  it  has  all  been  very 
vague  —  a  kind  of  dream.  But  now  I  see 
everything  clearly.  Time  unravels  mysteries 
not  easily  solved  at  first.  His  innocence  must 
be  proved.  Powerful  friends  shall  give  all 
their  thoughts,  all  their  ingenuity " 

"We  have  no  friends,"  Madeleine  answered 
bitterly. 

"  You  have  one  friend.     You  have  me." 

Then  at  last  a  sense  of  the  strangeness  of  this 
scene  rushed  in  a  wave  over  the  consciousness  of 
the  lonely  dweller  in  the  castle. 

"I  don't  understand,"  she  said  slowly.  "Yes- 
terday we  had  never  met.  I  only  knew  your 
name  because  you  spoke  of  buying  this  poor, 
sad  home  of  mine.     I " 


50         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"Neither  do  I  understand,"  broke  in  Vir- 
ginia. *'But  I  have  never  understood  myself: 
I  only  know  that  this  seems  to  be  the  thing  I  was 
bom  for.  And  if  I  fail  in  what  I  want  to  do 
for  you  and  yours,  why,  I  shall  have  come  into 
the  world  for  nothing,  that  is  all." 

"But  you  are  wonderful!"  exclaimed  Made- 
leine Dalahaide,  realizing  with  sudden  force 
the  other's  extreme  beauty  and  strong  mag- 
netism. "  Did  you  —  is  it  possible  that  you 
ever  knew  my  brother?" 

"I  never  heard  his  name  till  yesterday.  But 
I  have  seen  you,  I  have  seen  this  house,  I  have 
heard  something  of  the  story,  and  —  I  have 
seen  his  portrait.  Nobody  told  me,  of  course, 
that  it  was  his;  nobody  could.  But  I  knew  at 
once.  And  I  wondered  how  any  one  who  had  ever 
known  him  could  have  believed  that — that " 

"Don't  be  afraid  to  say  it.  Believed  that 
he  was  a  murderer.  Oh,  friends  —  friends! 
Friendship  is  a  flower  that  withers  with  the 
first  frost." 

"You  shan't  have  cause  to  think  that  of  me  — 
if  you  are  going  to  take  me  for  a  friend." 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  51 

"I  shall  thank  heaven  for  you.  Even  if 
you  can  do  nothing,  to  think  that  there  is  one 
human  being  in  the  world  besides  my  poor 
aunt  and  me  who  believe  in  him,  is  like  balm 
on  an  open  wound.  Come  with  me  into  the 
room  where  you  saw  the  portrait.  I  painted  it 
the  year  before  —  the  end.  I  talk  to  it  some- 
times, and  for  a  moment  I  almost  forget  the 
horrible  truth  —  when  the  eyes  smile  back  at 
me  just  as  they  used  to  do  when  we  had  some 
joke  together." 

"As  they  will  again,"  finished  Virginia. 

They  went  into  the  room  of  the  portrait  and 
stood  before  it  in  silence.  Each  one  felt  that 
its  look  was  for  her. 

"And  yet,"  Madeleine  said,  as  if  answering  a 
question,  "there  must  be  some  one  who  thinks 
of  us,  and  remembers  us  with  kindness,  giving 
him  at  least  the  benefit  of  a  doubt;  some  one 
who  talked  to  you  of  Max  and  told  you  the 
story  of  —  of  his  so-called  crime  in  such  a  way 
as  not  to  fill  your  mind  with  horror." 

"No  one  has  told  me  the  story  yet,"  hesi- 
tated   Virginia.     "I    have    only    heard    hints. 


52         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

They  said  —  the  word  —  murder!  But  that  is 
not  the  face  of  a  murderer.  How  could  any 
one  believe  it?" 

"You  don't  know  —  the  story?" 

Virginia  shook  her  head. 

"  When  you  know  it,  you  will  turn  away  from 
us,  as  every  one  else  has." 

"No  —  no!     Be  sure  I  will  not." 

"How  can  I  be  sure?  Ah,  almost  all  the 
solace  of  hope  has  gone  now!  You  will  hear 
the  horrible  details,  and  —  that  will  be  the  end." 

Virginia  caught  the  slender,  cold  fingers  that 
twisted  together  nervously.  "Tell  me.  your- 
self," she  cried.  "  Tell  me  all  —  you,  his 
sister.  Then  you  will  see  how  I  shall  bear  it, 
and  whether  I  shall  fail  you." 

"I  will!" 

Madeleine  Dalahaide's  breath  came  unevenly. 
For  a  moment  she  could  not  speak.  Then  she 
began,  her  eyes  not  on  Virginia,  but  on  the 
portrait. 

"There  was  a  woman,"  she  said  in  a  low, 
choked  voice.  "She  was  an  actress.  Max 
was  in  love  with  her,  or  thought  he  was.     She 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  53 

was  handsome.  I  have  seen  her  on  the  stage. 
Other  men  besides  Max  were  mad  about  her. 
But  she  seemed  to  care  for  him.  He  wanted 
to  marry  her,  and  when  father  and  mother 
didn't  approve,  he  quarrelled  with  them,  for 
the  first  time  in  his  life.  We  had  always  been 
so  happy  before  that  —  so  united.  Every- 
thing began  to  go  wrong  with  my  poor  Max 
then.  He  played  cards  at  his  club,  and  lost 
a  great  deal  of  money.  And  as  if  that  were  not 
enough,  father's  losses  came.  He  could  do 
nothing  for  Max.  Besides,  the  woman  Max 
loved  made  him  jealous.  He  suspected  that 
she  cared  for  somebody  else.  He  told  me  that 
the  last  time  I  saw  him  before  —  the  terrible 
thing  happened.  But  he  didn't  tell  the  man's 
name.  Perhaps  he  didn't  know  him.  We 
had  a  long  talk,  for  I  had  been  his  friend  and 
confidante  through  all.  I  didn't  want  him  to 
marry  the  woman;  but  even  that  would  be 
better  than  to  have  him  miserable,  as  he  said 
he  must  be  without  her.  And  it  was  the  next 
night  that  the  murder  was  committed.  But  it 
was  not  known  until  the  day  after." 


54         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"Was  it  —  the  man  of  whom  he  was  jealous 
who  was  murdered?" 

"No,  the  woman,  Liane  Devereux.  She  had 
been  shot  —  in  the  face.  Oh,  it  was  horrible ! 
It  is  horrible  now  to  talk  to  you  of  it.  Her 
features  were  so  destroyed  that  she  could  be 
recognized  only  by  her  hair,  which  was  golden- 
red,  and  her  figure  —  her  beautiful  figure  which 
all  the  world  admired  so  much.  Even  her 
hands  —  she  must  have  held  them  up  before 
her  face,  the  poor  creature,  instinctively  try- 
ing to  save  herself,  to  preserve  her  beauty,  for 
they,  too,  were  shattered.  Her  jewels  were  all 
gone,  and  she  had  had  many  jewels.  Soon  the 
police  discovered  that  they  had  been  pawned. 
And  Max  was  accused  of  pawning  them,  to  get 
money  to  pay  gambling  debts." 

"How  could  they  accuse  him  of  that.^" 

"He  really  had  pawned  them,  at  her  request. 
She  wanted  money,  and  would  not  listen  to  his 
objections  to  getting  it  in  that  way.  He  had 
pawned  them  on  the  day  of  the  murder,  and 
still  had  the  tickets,  which  he  had  forgotten  to 
enclose  with  the  money  for  the  jewels,  when  he 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  55 

sent  it  to  Mademoiselle  Devereux.  She  had 
asked  him  to  pawn  the  things  in  his  name,  so 
that  hers  could  be  protected,  and,  of  course, 
that  went  dreadfully  against  Max.  He  couldn't 
possibly  prove,  when  the  woman  was  dead, 
that  he  had  pawned  the  jewels  for  her,  because 
the  money  he  had  raised  had  disappeared.  He 
would  have  taken  it  to  her  himself,  but  on 
returning  to  his  own  flat  from  the  pawnbroker's 
he  received  a  strange  letter  saying  that  she 
hated  him,  and  never  wished  to  see  him  again. 
It  was  all  quite  sudden,  and  Max  was  angry. 
Still,  he  might  have  gone,  insisting  that  she 
should  tell  him  what  she  meant  by  such  a  letter, 
but  he  had  arranged  a  hurried  journey  to  Eng- 
land. They  arrested  him  on  the  way.  He 
was  going  there  in  the  hope  of  borrowing  some 
money  from  his  godfather,  a  cousin  of  ours, 
who  had  told  Max  that  if  at  any  time  he  should 
be  in  diflficulties  he  must  apply  to  him.  But 
what  proof  had  Max  of  his  own  intentions.^ 
Every  one  thought  that  he  was  escaping  to 
England  to  hide  himself,  after  having  committed 
a  cowardly  murder. 


56         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"There  were  other  bits  of  evidence  against 
him,  too;  for  instance,  the  revolver  with  which 
the  woman  was  shot  was  his,  with  a  silver  mono- 
gram on  it.  Everybody  —  even  the  best  of  his 
friends  —  believed  him  guilty.  And  father  — 
poor  father!  —  but  I  can't  talk  about  that  part. 
It  is  too  cruel.  Oh,  you  are  pale,  and  changed! 
I  knew  it  would  be  so.  You  are  like  the  rest. 
But  how  could  I  expect  anything  else  when  you 
have  heard  such  a  story .?  Everything  against 
him  —  nothing  in  his  favour.  Even  Max  him- 
self was  dazed.  Over  and  over  again  he 
said  that  he  had  no  explanation  to  give  of  the 
mystery." 

"There  is  only  one  explanation,  since  he  was 
innocent  —  and  I'm  as  sure  of  that  as  before," 
said  Virginia  firmly.  "It  was  a  diabolically 
clever  plot,  planned  with  fiendish  ingenuity, 
to  ruin  your  brother  —  all  your  family,  perhaps.'* 

"Hundreds  of  times  I  have  thought  of  that," 
sighed  Madeleine  Dalahaide.  "Many,  many 
times  I  spoke  of  it  to  the  man  who  defended 
Max  at  his  trial.  But  there  was  no  one  it 
would    be    reasonable    to    suspect.     We    had 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  57 

absolutely  no  enemy.  Max  had  none.  Every- 
body adored  him  —  in  his  happy  days." 

"The  man  whom  Liane  Devereux  loved 
better  than  your  brother.?" 

"Ah,  but  you  must  see,  as  the  advocate  saw, 
that  if  she  loved'  the  other  better  he  had  no 
motive  either  to  kill  the  woman  or  ruin  Max. 
Where  there  had  been  no  injury,  there  need  be 
no  revenge.  And  if  Max  knew  who  the  man  was 
he  never  told  his  name." 

"  There  was  nobody  —  nobody  who  had  a 
right  to  think  himself  injured  by  your  brother, 
even  long  before?" 

"Not  by  my  brother,  so  far  as  we  could  find 
out.  The  theory  of  a  plot  was  advanced,  of 
course,  and  —  and  I  clung  to  it ;  but  it  fell  to  the 
ground.     There  seemed  nothing  to  support  it." 

"And  yet,  from  the  way  you  speak,  I  can't 
help  thinking  that  you  suspect  some  one." 

"Oh,  I!  But  I  am  only  a  woman.  I  was 
a  very  young  girl  then.  Every  one  I  spoke  to 
—  even  Max  —  thought  my  idea  a  mad  one, 
and  said  it  would  do  our  case  far  more  harm 
than  good  to  have  it  mentioned." 


58         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"Tell  me,  won't  you,  what  it  was  ?" 

Madeleine  hesitated.  *'I  dare  not,"  she  an- 
swered. "My  reason  says  that  the  thing  is 
impossible.  If  I  wrong  the  man,  it  would  be 
shameful  to  create  a  prejudice  in  your  mind 
against  one,  no  doubt  a  stranger  to  you,  but 
whom  you  might  one  day  meet,  and,  meeting, 
remember  my  words.  Besides,  it  can  do  no 
good  to  speak.  It  would  be  hopeless  to  prove 
anything  against  him,  even  if  his  hand  had 
been  in  a  plot.'* 

"Yet  you  said  that  your  brother  had  no 
enemy?" 

"  This  man  was  my  enemy.  It  had  not  always 
been  so.  Once  we  were  friends.  But — something 
happened,  and  afterward  I  think  he  hated  me." 

"Is  it  possible  that  you  are  speaking  of  the 
Marchese  Loria?" 

The  question  sprang  from  Virginia's  lips 
before  she  had  stopped  to  reflect  whether  it  were 
wise  to  ask  it,  and  she  was  terrified  at  the  effect 
of  her  impulsive  words. 

Madeleine  Dalahaide's  pale,  sad  face  became 
ashen,  her  great  eyes  dilated,  and  there  was 


THE  STORY  TOLD  BY  TWO  59 

something  of  fear,  perhaps  even  of  distrust,  in 
the  look  she  turned  upon  Virginia. 

"You  know  him?"  she  exclaimed,  her  voice 
suddenly  sharp. 

"Yes,"  admitted  the  American  girl. 

"Then  I  think  that  you  and  I  cannot  be 
friends." 

"  Not  friends  ?  But  if  I  give  up  the  Marchese 
Loria  for  you.^" 

"I  do  not  ask  or  wish  you  to  do  that." 

"If  he  is  your  enemy  he  shall  not  be  my 
friend." 

"I  have  not  said  he  was  my  enemy." 

"I  have  heard  that  he  loved  your  brother 
dearly." 

"Perhaps." 

"And  yesterday " 

"What  of  yesterday.^" 

"He  was  with  us  when  we  rode  into  the 
valley.  He  turned  pale,  and  begged  not  to  come, 
because  the  place,  he  said,  was  connected  with 
a  great  sorrow  in  his  life."     ^ 

"He  would  not  meet  me  face  to  face!  Did  he 
suggest  that  you  should  try  to  save  my  brother  .^" 


60         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"No,  he  did  not  speak  his  name  before  me. 
He  does  not  know  what  is  in  my  mind.  No  one 
knows  yet  but  you.  It  was  my  cousin,  Roger 
Broom,  who  met  you  long  ago,  and  told  me  that 
the  Marchese  Loria  had  done  much  to  save 
your  brother's  life." 

*'It  may  be  that  he  did.  I  don't  deny  it. 
But  if  you  are  to  be  my  friend  I  ask  you  this: 
say  nothing  of  Maxime  Dalahaide  to  Loria." 


CHAPTER  III 

A  MYSTERY  AND  A  BARGAIN 

1ADY  GARDINER  stood  at  Virginia's  door, 
-^  remained  for  a  moment  undecided,  then 
tapped  gently.  The  girl's  voice  answered  **  Come 
in!"  and  Kate  obeyed. 

Virginia  sat  at  a  small  writing-table  in 
a  window  reading  a  book;  but  at  sight  of 
Lady  Gardiner  she  snatched  up  a  paper 
and  hastily  laid  it  over  the  volume.  '*Oh, 
I  thought  it  was  George,"  she  exclaimed, 
blushing  brilliantly.  *'He  has  asked  me  to 
take  a  walk." 

"Now,"  thought  Kate,  "what  has  that  book 
she's  hiding  from  me  to  do  with  the  mystery 
that's  been  going  on  for  the  past  three  days.?" 
but  aloud,  she  said,  without  appearing  to  notice 
the  hurried  movement  or  the  tell-tale  blush: 
"I  came  to  ask  if  you  would  go  down  to  town 
with  me  for  a  little  shopping." 

61 


62         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"I'm  afraid  I  can't,"  Virginia  answered. 
**You  see  —  er  —  I  promised  George." 

"Perhaps  he  wouldn't  mind  if  we  arranged  for 
him  to  meet  us  in  about  an  hour ;  and  we  might 
all  three  have  tea  together  at  Rumpel mayer's." 

Virginia  looked  embarrassed,  which  was 
unusual  for  her.  "  We  didn't  think  of  going  into 
Mentone,"  she  said.  "  We  shall  just  stroll  about, 
for  the  fact  is,  we've  business  to  talk  over." 

"You  seem  to  have  had  a  great  deal  of  business 
to  talk  over  these  last  few  days,  you  and  Mr. 
Trent  and  Sir  Roger.  Would  it  be  indiscreet  to 
ask,  dear  child,  if  there  has  been  any  hitch  about 
the  purchase  of  your  new  toy  ?  Oh,  don't  look 
vexed  —  your    chateau,    then?" 

"No,  there's  been  no  hitch.  What  made  you 
think  that?" 

"Well,  business  talks  are  so  new  for  you.  A 
little  while  ago  you  fled  from  the  first  hint 
of  business.  But  now  —  you  are  very  much 
changed  these  last  few  days,  since  we  went  to 
the  chateau,  Virginia.  I've  been  wanting  to 
speak  to  you  about  it.  However,  you  are  going 
out  to  walk,  and  I  must  wait." 


A  MYSTERY  AND  A  BARGAIN  63 

Virginia  met  her  eyes  firmly;  yet  the  violet 
gaze  was  not  quite  as  frankly  open  and  childlike 
as  it  used  to  be.  "You  needn't  wait,  if  your 
shopping  can,"  she  said.  "Do  sit  down.  I 
dare  say  it  may  be  twenty  minutes  before  George 
comes  for  me.     He's  with  Roger  —  somewhere." 

"Yes,  I  saw  them.  Virginia,  do  you  know, 
I've  been  rather  unhappy  for  several  days?" 

"I  didn't  know.  I'm  very  sorry.  Is  it  any- 
thing I've  done.?" 

"Yes  and  no."  Kate  did  not  sit  down,  but 
perched  on  the  arm  of  a  big  cushioned  chair 
between  the  writing-desk  and  the  dressing-table. 
"You  see,  dear,"  she  went  on  in  her  softest 
voice,  to  which  she  could  give  a  pretty,  tearful 
tremolo  at  will,  "I'm  in  rather  a  peculiar  position. 
You  have  been  so  sweet  all  this  year  and  more 
that  we've  been  together,  that  I  suppose  you've 
spoilt  me.  I've  forgotten  often  that  I'm  only  a 
paid  chaperon,  and  have  felt  like  a  friend  and 
confidante." 

"Why,  so  you  are,"  returned  Virginia. 

"Wait,  dear;  let  me  finish.  I've  told  you  my 
various  troubles,  and  you've  told  me  things,  too. 


64         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

Now,  suddenly,  everything  is  changed.  Why, 
you  even  sit  in  your  bedroom,  instead  of  in  our 
sitting-room,  or  on  the  balcony  with  me,  as  you 
used.  You  don't  seem  to  want  my  society;  you 
make  excuses  if  I  suggest  going  anywhere.  You 
and  your  brother  and  cousin  are  continually  get- 
ting away  by  yourselves  and  talking  in  whispers. 
Oh,  I'm  not  hurt.  It  isn't  that.  I'm  not  so 
thin-skinned  and  stupid.  But  I've  been  think- 
ing that  perhaps  I'd  offended  you,  or  you 
were  simply  tired  of  me,  and,  being  kind- 
hearted,  didn't  like  to  send  me  about  my 
business.  You  know,  dear,  if  you  would  rather 
have  any  one  else '* 

*'Oh,  Kate,  you  are  stupid!'*  cried  Virginia. 
"Of  course  I'm  not  tired  of  you.  We  really 
have  had  business  —  not  about  the  chateau.  I 
— didn't  mean  to  tell  you  until  things  were  more 
settled,  but  since  you've  been  talking  like  this, 
I  will.  I've  discovered  lately  that  I'm  tired  of 
the  Riviera,  heavenly  as  it  is  here.  We've  been 
a   month  now " 

*'I  always  told  you  that  Monte  Carlo  was 
more  amusing,  while  as  for  Cannes " 


A  MYSTERY  AND  A  BARGAIN  65 

"But  I've  seen  enough  of  the  Riviera  for 
a  while." 

"  What  about  your  chateau,  then  —  your 
chateau  in  the  olive  woods  that  you  so  adore  ?  ' 

"That  won't  be  ready  until  next  winter. 
There's  lots  to  be  done.  And  —  I've  set  my 
heart   on   a  yachting  trip." 

Kate  Gardiner's  face  fell.  She  was  a  wretched 
sailor,  and  Virginia  knew  it.  Even  the  crossing 
from  Dover  to  Calais  was  torture  to  her  on  a 
calm  day. 

"A  long  yachting  trip .?"  she  asked,  controlling 
her  voice. 

"I  don't  quite  know  yet.  Some  weeks,  per- 
haps.    The  only  diflficulty  is  about  you." 

Kate  did  not  answer  for  a  moment.  Was 
this  an  excuse  to  get  rid  of  her,  and  if  so,  why  ? 
Could  it  be  that  Roger  Broom  had  been  warning 
Virginia  that  her  half-brother  was  in  danger  of 
making  a  fool  of  himself  about  a  woman  many 
years  his  senior  .'^  A  short  time  ago  she  might 
have  believed  that  this  was  the  explanation,  for 
Roger  Broom  knew  a  good  deal  about  Lady 
Gardiner.     He  was  aware  that  her  dead  hus- 


66         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

band  was  but  a  city  man,  knighted  when  he  was 
sheriff;  that  she  had  been  governess  to  the  gruff 
old  widower's  one  daughter;  that  she  had 
married  him  for  his  money,  and  spent  it  freely 
until  what  remained  was  lost  in  a  great  financial 
panic;  that  since  then  she  had  lived  as  she 
could,  trading  upon  her  own  aristocratic  connec- 
tions to  chaperon  girls,  chiefly  Americans,  who 
wished  to  see  "English  society  from  the  inside." 
Roger  knew  her  real  age,  or  something  near  it ;  he 
knew  that  she  had  been  in  debt  when  she  had 
got  this  chance  with  Virginia,  to  whom  she  had 
been  recommended  by  an  American  duchess; 
and  as  there  was  nothing  against  her  character, 
he  had  been  too  good-natured  —  as  she  would 
have  expressed  it  —  to  "put  a  spoke  in  her 
wheel.'*  However,  if  he  suspected  designs  upon 
George,  he  might  not  have  continued  to  be  as 
discreet;  but  during  these  last  three  days 
of  mysterious  confabs,  George  Trent  had 
appeared  as  much  changed  toward  her  as  his 
half-sister  had,  so  that  Roger  need  have  had  no 
new  fears  for  him.  George  had  never  ceased 
to  be  courteous,  but  there  was  a  subtle  difference 


A  MYSTERY  AND  A  BARGAIN  67 

in  his  manner,  in  his  way  of  looking  at  her.  He 
appeared  preoccupied;  he  no  longer  sought  her 
out.  And  this  alteration  had  only  come  about 
since  the  day  when  they  had  visited  the  Chateau 
de  la  Roche. 

Perhaps,  then,  it  was  George  who  was  tired  of 
her.  He  had  never  been  the  same  since  he  had 
seen  that  girl  in  black,  with  the  tragic  eyes  and 
the  dead- white  face,  with  no  more  life  in  it  than 
a  marble  statue.  Maybe  he  was  planning  to 
attach  that  girl  to  the  party  in  some  way,  and 
would  find  the  society  of  the  woman  with  whom 
he  had  flirted  a  constraint. 

At  this  thought  Kate  Gardiner  felt  her  blood 
grow  hot.  It  was  unbearable  that  she  should  be 
sent  out  of  George  Trent's  life  to  make  room  for 
a  younger  woman.  She  would  not  have  it  —  she 
would  not!  If  it  killed  her  to  go  on  this  hateful 
yachting  trip  she  would  go;  she  would  not  be 
whistled  down  the  wind. 

"Oh,  if  the  difficulty  is  only  about  me," 
she  said  sweetly,  "it  needn't  be  a  difficulty 
at  all.  I  dare  say  I  shall  be  ill  for  a  few 
days,  but  it  can't  last  forever.      I  shall  simply 


68         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

stop  in  my  stateroom  until  I  am  fit  to  lie 
in  a  deck-chair  and  be  a  more  or  less  interest- 
ing invalid." 

As  she  spoke  she  watched  Virginia's  face 
through  half-lowered  lashes,  and  was  certain  that 
it  changed.  There  could  no  longer  be  any 
doubt  on  that  subject.  For  some  reason  Virginia 
did  not  want  her  on  the  yacht. 

"I  should  hate  you  to  be  a  martyr,"  said  the 
girl  uncomfortably.  "Roger  and  I  have  been 
thinking  it  over,  and  I  was  wondering,  in  case 
we  went  (nothing  is  actually  decided  yet), 
whether  you  would  like  to  wait  here.  I  would 
keep  on  your  room  and  the  sitting-room,  and  the 
victoria,  and  you  should  have  my  maid  and  your 
own  horse.  Your  income  would  be  the  same  as 
always,  of  course;  and  you  have  a  lot  of  friends 
here,  so  you  wouldn't  be  lonely." 

"How  sweet  and  thoughtful  you  are,  dearest 
child!"  exclaimed  Kate  gratefully;  while  within 
she  was  saying,  "  Oh,  so  this  is  the  game,  is  it  ? 
Come  now;  at  least  you're  showing  your  hand. 
Roger  and  you  have  been  '  talking  things  over  ?  * 
You  seem  to  have  thought  out  the  details  pretty 


A  MYSTERY  AND  A  BARGAIN  69 

well ;  and  I'm  to  be  bribed.  But  it  won't  work, 
my  love,  it  won't  work."  She  rose,  and  going  to 
Virginia,  took  her  hand,  looking  affectionately 
down  at  the  beautiful  face.  "You  are  always 
ready  to  sacrifice  yourself  for  me.  But  what 
would  you  do  for  a  chaperon  if  I  stopped 
behind.?" 

**  Oh,  you  see,  George  and  Roger  and  I  would 
be  all  the  party  on  board.  Surely  George  is 
chaperon  enough.?" 

"Poor  Marchese!"  murmured  Kate.  "I'm 
afraid  he  also  is  suffering  from  an  eclipse." 

"I  don't  know  what  you  mean,"  said  Virginia, 
her  colour  deepening.  "Why  should  he  expect 
an  invitation  to  go  with  us.?" 

"Ah!  why.?  Unless,  indeed,  he  had  hopes 
that  he  was  soon  to  be  given  some  rights  over 
you.  Only  the  other  day  I  used  to  fancy 
that  you  and  he  were  half  engaged." 

"  We  never  were.  I  —  I  found  him  rather 
interesting.  But  I  don't  think  I  have  behaved 
very  badly.  I  really  meant  —  oh,  I  don't  know 
what  I  meant  then;  but  I  know  I  don't  mean  it 
now.     The  Marchese  Loria  is  the  last  person  I 


70         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

should  wish  to  have  go  on  this  yachting  trip,  and 
as  it's  only  us  three,  we'll  chaperon  each  dther." 

"Can  it  be  that  she  means  to  marry  Roger 
Broom  after  all?"  Kate  Gardiner  asked  herself. 
"To  my  certain  knowledge,  she's  refused  him. 
I  heard  him  reminding  her  of  it  the  other  night. 
But  one  never  knows  how  many  times  a  girl  may 
change  her  mind.  The  more  I  think  of  it  the 
more  determined  I  am  to  be  of  the  party  on 
that  yacht." 

"Unless  I  should  be  one  too  many,  I'd  really 
love  to  go,"  said  she  aloud.  "  I  must  get  over  my 
horror  of  the  sea.  Mayn't  I  be  with  you,  dear,  if 
you  have  really  made  up  your  mind  ?  I've  grown 
so  fond  of  you.     I  should  feel  deserted  here." 

"Even  for  a  few  weeks.?" 

"Even  for  a  few  weeks.  When  you  marry,  or 
go  home  to  the  States,  I  must  lose  you,  but  do  let 
me  be  with  you  as  long  as  I  can." 

"You  shall  go  if  you  really  wish  to  so  much," 
said  Virginia,  trying  in  vain  not  to  appear  con- 
strained. "  Only  I  warn  you,  you  may  find  that 
you've  made  a  mistake." 

"  Why,  how  seriously  you  speak.     One  would 


A  MYSTERY  AND  A  BARGAIN  71 

think  you  meditated  a  voyage  to  the  North  Pole. 
Probably,  though,  you'll  simply  linger  about  in 
the  Mediterranean;  go  to  Naples,  Greece,  per- 
haps, and  Egypt?" 

"Something  of  the  sort,  I  suppose,"  Virginia 
answered,  dropping  her  eyes  and  playing  with  the 
paper  she  had  used  to  conceal  her  book.  "It's 
rather  vague  at  present.  Roger  and  George  are 
looking  for  a  yacht.  We'll  talk  of  it  again  later. 
I  only  mentioned  it  now  to  show  you  that  we've 
really  had  business.  And  by  the  way,  Kate,  I'd 
rather  you  didn't  say  anything  about  it  yet  to 
people  outside.  It  seems  like  making  it  of  so 
much  importance  and  I'd  hate  being  asked  three 
times  a  day:  *Well,  when  do  you  start  on  that 
yachting  trip.?'  " 

"I  shall  be  discreet,  never  fear,"  replied  Kate, 
more  sure  than  ever  that  some  mystery  which 
she  could  not  fathom  hid  itself  under  this  new 
plan  of  Virginia's.  "And  now  for  something 
else  I  wanted  to  ask  you.  Do,  like  a  dear,  good 
girl,  lend  me  ten  pounds.  You  know  how 
stupidly  hard  up  I  always  am.  I'll  pay  it  back 
in  a  few  days." 


72         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

Virginia  was  on  her  feet  in  an  instant  and  at 
the  dressing-table,  rummaging  among  scented 
laces  and  pretty  odds  and  ends  for  the  gold-net- 
ted purse  with  "V.  B."  on  it  in  brilliants.  For  a 
moment  her  back  was  turned,  and  during  that 
moment  Kate  Gardiner,  standing  close  to  the 
desk  which  the  girl  had  left  noiselessly,  raised  a 
corner  of  the  paper  and  peeped  underneath. 
The  book  which  Virginia  had  been  reading  lay 
open.  It  was  French,  and  at  the  top  af  the  page 
Kate  saw  the  word  *' Noumea.'*  She  dared 
look  no  longer,  but  let  the  paper  drop,  and  had 
wheeled  round  with  her  back  to  the  desk  just  as 
Virginia  found  the  purse. 

"  Thank  you  so  much,"  purred  Lady  Gardiner, 
who  knew  from  experience  that  Virginia  would 
beg  her  not  to  give  back  the  money,  and  that, 
with  a  grateful  kiss,  and  perhaps  a  tear  or  two, 
she  would  allow  herself  to  be  persuaded. 

At  this  instant  there  came  a  knock  at  the  door 
leading  into  the  sitting-room,  which  Kate  had 
left  half-open  on  entering,  and  George  Trent 
appeared,  looking  excited  and  eager.  His  eyes 
fell  upon  Virginia,  and  he  began  to  speak  before 


A  MYSTERY  AND  A  BARGAIN  73 

he  had  seen  Lady  Gardiner,  standing  at  a  little 
distance  and  out  of  his  view  at  the  door. 

"I  say,  Virgie,"  he  exclaimed,  "the  most 
ripping  piece  of  luck.  We  can  get  hold  of  a 
steam  yacht  with  four  cannon  —  toys,  but  fit  for 
work  —  only  you'll  have  to  buy,  not  hire '* 

He  stopped  short,  a  look  passing  between  him 
and  Virginia,  quick  as  a  flash  of  light,  yet  not  too 
quick  to  be  seen  by  Kate. 

"Good!"  said  the  girl.  "Well,  we'll  talk 
about  it  as  we  walk.  Kate's  going  shopping." 
Evidently  she  intended  to  change  the  subject,  but 
Lady  Gardiner  was  not  ready  for  another. 

"  Mercy !  Are  you  fitting  out  as  pirates  ?  "  she 
demanded,  laughing. 

George  Trent  flushed  with  annoyance  u.nder 
her  unsparing  eyes,  but  he  smiled  carelessly  and 
shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  Oh,  you  mean  the  cannon  ?  They  happen  to 
be  there.  It  wouldn't  be  worth  while  to  have  the 
yacht  dismantled.  I  think  myself  they'd  give 
distinction.  It  isn't  everybody  who  goes  yacht- 
ing in  such  conditions." 

"Indeed,  no.     I  only  wish  we  may  have  a 


74         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

chance  to  use  them.  Perhaps  we  may,  if  we  can 
get  far  enough  up  the  Nile.  You  see,  Virginia 
has  told  me  of  the  trip  and  promised  that  I  may 
go.     I  hope  you  don't  mind." 

Of  course  George  said  that  it  would  be  charm- 
ing to  have  her  on  board,  and  he  opened  the 
sitting-room  door  when  she  went  out,  making 
the  necessary  agreeable  remarks  about  her 
shopping  expedition.  But  when  the  door  had 
closed  after  Lady  Gardiner,  and  Virginia  had 
joined  him  in  the  sitting-room,  he  was  no  longer 
smiling. 

"  So  we're  to  have  another  passenger,  are  we  .^  '* 
he  said  in  a  low  voice. 

*'  She  says  she  wants  to  go,  but  she  may  change 
her  mind.  You  know  what  a  wretched  sailor  she 
is.  Perhaps  even  after  starting  she'll  think 
better  of  it  and  beg  to  be  put  off  at  the  nearest 
port.  I  had  to  tell  her  about  the  yacht,  for  she 
was  so  inquisitive  concerning  the  business  that 
has  occupied  you  and  Roger  and  me  for  the  past 
three  days.  But  she  has  promised  not  to  say 
anything  outside  till  she  has  permission." 

"How  much  does  she  know.?" 


A  MYSTERY  AND  A  BARGAIN  75 

"Nothing  at  all,  except  that  I'm  tired  of  the 
Riviera  and  want  to  go  yachting  somewhere  — 
almost  anywhere/* 

"Sure  she  doesn't  suspect?'* 

"How  could  she?" 

"  Well,  I  suppose  she  couldn't.  And  as  far  as 
I*m  concerned,  I  don't  see  why  we  shouldn't 
trust  her  as  if  she  were  one  of  ourselves;  a  nice, 
jolly  little  woman,  with  no  harm  in  her.  What 
motive  could  she  possibly  have  for  blocking  our 
game?" 

"What,  indeed?  But  you  know  I  said  so  to 
Roger,  and  he  vowed  he'd  have  nothing  to  do 
with  it  if  any  one  knew  except  you  and  Madeleine 
Dalahaide  and  me.  He  wouldn't  hear  of  poor 
Kate's  being  told,  though  I  assured  him  one 
might  trust  her.  It  was  all  I  could  do  to  get  him 
to  promise  us,  anyway." 

"How  did  you  get  him  to,  by  the  by?  He 
poured  whole  cataracts  of  ice-water  on  the 
scheme  at  first." 

"I  —  I  —  suppose  I  wheedled.'* 

"  Virgie!  I'll  bet  you  said  you'd  marry  him  if 
he'd  go  in  with  us!" 


76         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"I  didn't  —  exactly  say  I  wouldn't." 
"Poor  old  Roger!     Shall  you  be  cad  enough 
to  chuck  him  afterward?" 

"  Oh,  I  couldn't  do  that.     I  shall  be  so  grateful 
to  him  for  this,  that  I  shall  feel  no  reward  could 
be  too  great  for  him  —  that  is,  if  we  succeed. 
He  is  a  dear,  kind  fellow,  and  I  have  often  made 
him  unhappy.     I've  always  thought,  somehow, 
that  I  should  end  by  marrying  him." 
"Yet  you've  refused  him  three  times." 
"That  was  to  put  off  the  evil  day." 
"And  you  came  jolly  near  accepting  Loria." 
"  Did  I  really,  do  you  think  ?    It  seems  so  long 
ago,  I  can  hardly  remember.     Anyway,  every- 
thing is  different  now.'* 

"I'm  with  you  there.  By  Jove,  what  a  funny 
world  it  is!  What  will  Roger  say  when  he 
hears  that  Kate  Gardiner  is  bent  on  going?  If 
he  consents  to  her  being  on  board,  I  don't  see 
why  he  should  go  on  refusing  to  take  Miss 
Dalahaide." 

"That's  not  the  same  thing  at  all.  One  can 
never  do  things  quite  secretly.  They  always 
leak  out.     Already  it  has  got  into  the  papers 


A  MYSTERY  AND  A  BARGAIN  77 

somehow  —  I  suppose  through  that  stupid  agent 
—  that  I  have  bought  the  Chateau  de  la  Roche, 
and  interest  has  been  revived  in  the  Dalahaide 
story.  It*s  so  unfortunate  that  people  should 
begin  to  talk  again  just  now!  And  then  if,  on 
top  of  all  this,  should  come  the  news  that  we'd 
taken  Madeleine  Dalahaide  off  with  us  on  a 
mysterious  yachting  expedition,  what  would  be 
said?     Roger  is  quite  right." 

**It  seems  cruel  that  she  should  be  left  out 
of  it." 

"It  would  be  more  cruel  to  have  her  in,  and 
perhaps  ruin  everything.  She  feels  that  herself 
though,  of  course,  it's  hard.  Still,  think  how 
awful  for  her  if — we  failed!  But  I  will  not  think 
of  that.     There's  no  such  word  as  fail!" 

"According  to  Roger,  there's  no  such  word  as 
success.  He's  absolutely  hopeless,  and  is  only 
going  into  the  adventure  to  please  you  —  to  win 
you,  perhaps.  And,  by  Jove,  it  will  be  an 
adventure!" 

"Tell  me  about  the  yacht  you've  heard  of." 

They  went  out  together,  walking  among  the 
pine  trees  surrounding  the  hotel ;  and  meanwhile 


78         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

Kate  Gardiner  had  driven  into  the  bright  little 
town  of  Mentone,  with  its  background  of  moun- 
tains, its  foreground  of  blue-green  sea.  In  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  shops,  she  sent  away  her 
victoria,  which  was  to  pick  her  up  at  Rumpel- 
mayer's  at  five  o'clock.  She  was  charmingly 
dressed,  and  had  secured  ten  pounds  with  which 
to  buy  an  exquisite  antique  Italian  watch  which 
had  taken  her  fancy  a  day  or  two  before;  never 
had  there  been  so  little  need  to  worry  about  the 
future  from  a  pecuniary  point  of  view;  still, 
Kate  was  not  happy.  She  had  lost  interest  in 
the  watch,  lost  interest  in  her  shopping  expedi- 
tion altogether,  and  was  lingering  outside  the 
jeweler's  wondering  whether  she  should  spend 
the  ten  pounds  as  she  had  planned  or  not,  when 
a  man's  voice  at  her  shoulder  made  her  turn.  It 
was  the  Marchese  Loria;  and  Lady  Gardiner 
noticed,  as  the  sun  streamed  full  into  his  face 
when  he  took  his  off  hat,  that  he  looked  sallow 
and  haggard. 

He  was  staying  at  the  Cap  Martin  also,  but 
they  had  not  seen  each  other  that  day,  and  now 
it  struck  Kate  that  he  was  surprisingly  changed 


A  MYSTERY  AND  A  BARGAIN  79 

since  the  afternoon  when  they  had  so  gaily  ridden 
off  to  find  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow.  She  was 
certain  that,  for  some  reason  which  puzzled  her 
sorely,  Loria  had  completely  lost  his  chance  with 
Virginia,  and  because  his  interests  no  longer 
threatened  her  own,  she  felt  more  friendly 
toward  him.  They  both  seemed  to  be  rather 
left  out  in  the  cold,  and  she  found  herself  sud- 
denly sympathizing  with  the  Italian. 

He  was  quick  to  note  the  unusual  cordiality  of 
her  smile,  and  was  curious  as  to  its  motive,  for 
Loria  knew  that  Lady  Gardiner  was  one  of  the 
few  women  who  never  act  without  one;  and  he 
had  been  fully  aware  that  she  did  not  favour  his 
cause  with  Virginia  Beverly. 

"Has  something  in  this  window  caught 
your  fancy?"  he  inquired,  stopping  and  join- 
ing her. 

Kate  pointed  to  a  serpent  belt,  crusted  with 
diamond  scales,  emerald-eyed,  and  having  its 
open  mouth  lined  with  rubies.  "Isn't  that 
lovely?"  she  asked.  "An  antique,  of  course; 
everything  is  in  this  window.  I  daren't  look  at 
it.     It's  far  beyond  my  means." 


80         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"I'm  thinking  of  buying  it  myself,"  said  Loria 
calmly.  "I  mean  to  give  it  to  a  woman  I  know, 
as  a  little  souvenir  of  my  gratitude  for  very 
great  kindness." 

"Lucky  woman!"  exclaimed  Kate  enviously, 
for  she  really  wanted  the  diamond  snake.  "She 
must  have  done  you  some  tremendous  favour  to 
have  earned  that." 

"She  hasn't  done  anything  yet.  But  I  hope 
she  will.  I  hope  very  much  that  she  will  tell  me 
certain  things  I'm  anxious  to  know,  and  after- 
ward help  me,  if  necessary,  to  make  use  of  the 
knowledge.     I  wonder  if  she  will  do  it?" 

There  was  now  a  meaning  in  his  voice  which 
could  not  be  mistaken.  Kate  looked  up  quickly 
and  met  his  eyes.  For  a  long  instant  they  gazed 
at  each  other,  then  she  said :  "I  think  the  woman 
would  be  foolish  if  she  didn't." 

"Will  you  come  with  me  when  I  buy  the 
thing.?"  asked  Loria. 

Kate  smiled  and  flushed  faintly  through  the 
white  rose  balm  which  gave  an  illusion  of  youth. 
They  went  in,  and  Loria  asked  to  be  shown  the 
serpent  belt  from  the  window. 


A  MYSTERY  AND  A  BARGAIN  81 

A  very  old  man,  an  Italian,  brought  the  glitter- 
ing thing  and  laid  it  on  a  piece  of  black  velvet, 
which  he  spread  as  a  background  on  the  counter. 

"It  is  only  two  thousand  francs,"  he 
announced,  "and  it  has  a  history.  Perhaps  I  am 
indiscreet  to  mention  it,  but  it  may  add  to  the 
interest,  and  I  see  that  the  illustrious  Signor  is 
a  countryman  of  my  own.  This  jewel  was  an 
heirloom  in  a  very  ancient  family;  but  great  mis- 
fortunes overtook  them  some  years  ago.  The 
heir  was  accused  of  crime,  and  banished  for  life 
to  Noumea.  They  were  forced  to  sell  everything 
of  value." 

Loria  was  ghastly.  With  an  instinctive  gesture 
of  horror,  he  pushed  the  velvet  away,  not  touch- 
ing the  serpent  and  averting  his  eyes. 

"Let  us  choose  something  else,'*  he  said 
hoarsely  to  Lady  Gardiner.  But  she  was  merci- 
less. He  had  as  much  as  offered  her  the  belt, 
and  she  would  not  give  it  up  easily. 

"There  is  nothing  else  half  as  pretty  or  quaint," 
she  said.  "I  think  this  bit  of  history  makes 
it  all  the  more  interesting." 

Loria  did  not  look  again  at  the  serpent  glitter- 


82         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

ing  on  its  black  velvet  cushion,  but,  having 
hesitated  for  a  barely  perceptible  space,  he 
abruptly  ordered  the  jeweler  to  send  the  belt  to 
his  hotel,  where  it  would  be  paid  for  on  delivery. 
Kate  decided  that,  as  she  was  in  such  a  vein 
of  luck,  she  would  have  the  watch  she  fancied, 
and  keep  the  Marchese  while  she  made  the  pur- 
chase. Half  maliciously  she  said  to  the  shop- 
keeper: *'I  suppose  this  pretty  thing  has  no  such 
story  as  the  other  ?  " 

"Rather  strangely,  madame  has  chosen 
another  heirloom  disposed  of  by  the  same  family," 
returned  the  man,  as  he  placed  the  old  blue- 
enameled  watch  in  a  box  filled  with  pink  cotton. 
It  seemed  as  if  Fate  persisted  in  linking  them 
with  these  Dalahaides! 

Loria  did  not  speak,  but  Kate's  observant  eyes 
saw  that  the  gloved  hand  nearest  her  closed 
tightly  on  the  stick  it  held.  A  moment  later  she 
had  paid  for  her  purchase,  and  they  were  out  in 
the  street  again. 

"You  look  very  down,"  she  remarked.  "I 
believe  you  must  have  been  losing  a  lot  at 
Monte,  and  that  a  little  sympathy  and  good 


A  MYSTERY  AND  A  BARGAIN  83 

advice  would  do  you  good.  I  meant  to  go  to 
Rumpel  may  er's  presently,  but  suppose  we  go 
now  and  have  tea  together?" 

Neither  he  nor  she  had  said  in  so  many  words 
that  there  was  to  be  a  bargain  between  them; 
but  Loria  understood  what  the  suggestion  of  a 
tete-a-tete  at  Rumpelmayer's  meant,  and  augured 
well  of  Kate's  genuine  good- will,  by  her  readiness 
to  give  the  opportunity  he  wanted. 

She  was  curious,  he  labouring  under  sup- 
pressed excitement,  and  they  did  not  speak 
much  as  they  walked.  At  the  confectioner's 
Loria  chose  a  table  in  a  corner,  far  from  the 
few  early  customers  who  had  already  arrived. 
It  was  not  yet  four  o'clock,  and  the  rooms 
would  not  begin  to  be  crowded  for  half  an  hour. 
In  that  time  much  could  be  said,  much,  perhaps, 
planned  for  the  future. 


CHAPTER  rV 

THE  CLOSED  DOOR 

THE  Marchese  Loria  ordered  tea,  and  the 
two  newly  made  allies  pretended  to  have 
no  important  more  business  than  eating  and 
drinking.  But  certain  that  nobody  was  within 
hearing  distance,  Loria  squandered  little  time 
in  frivolities.  At  any  moment  some  one  they 
knew  might  come  in  and  interrupt  their  talk. 

"You  said  that  I  looked  'very  down,'** 
he  began  abruptly.  "That  is  cool  English 
for  broken-hearted,  no  doubt.  Tm  half  mad, 
I  think.  Lady  Gardiner.  For  four  nights  I 
haven't  slept;  for  three  days  I've  scarcely  eaten. 
You  know  why;  there's  no  use  in  wasting 
words  on  explanation." 

"You  love  her  so  much?"  exclaimed  Kate. 

"I  love  her  so  much.     You  believe  me .''" 

**Yes;  for  you  have  the  reputation  of  being  a 
rich  man,  and  it  can't  be  all  a  bubble,  or  you 

84 


THE  CLOSED   DOOR  85 

wouldn't  buy  eighty-pound  presents  —  for  grat- 
itude, and  rather  premature  gratitude  at  that." 
"Ah!  the  gift  hasn't  been  made  yet.'* 
"I  fancy  it  will  be  made.  And  the  principle  is 
the  same.  You  can't  be  a  fortune-hunter,  like 
many  agreeable,  titled  countn-men  of  yours 
whom  I  have  met." 

"If  a  man  began  by  seeking  out  !Miss  Beverly 
as  a  fortune-hunter,  he  would  end  by  being  her 
lover.  She  is  the  most  beautiful  girl  on  earth, 
and  —  the  most  maddening.  I  think  I  shall  go 
mad  if  I  am  to  lose  her." 

"  How  you  Italians  can  love  —  and  hate!" 
"Yes,  we  can  hate  also,  it  is  true.  There  is  no 
half-way  with  us.  Lady  Gardiner,  I  used  to 
think  that  you  disliked  me;  but  to-day  you  are 
different.  I  was  as  desperately  in  need  of  help 
as  a  drowning  man,  and  I  caught  at  the  new  look 
of  kindness  in  your  eyes,  as  such  a  man  catches 
at  a  floating  spar." 

"Perhaps  it  was  the  appeal  in  your  eyes  that 
called  out  the  answer  in  mine^"  said  Kate,  half 
believing  that  she  told  the  truth;  for  there  was 
a  certain  magnetic  power  in  the  man's  passion. 


86         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

which  was,  at  least,  sincere.  **  What  help  can  I 
give  you?" 

"First  of  all,  you  can  answer  a  few  questions. 
What  have  I  done  to  change  Miss  Beverly  so 
completely.'*" 

"Frankly,  I  don't  know.  There's  something 
odd  going  on  —  something  which  interests  her  so 
much  that  she  can  think  of  nothing  else." 

"The  change  began  on  the  day  of  —  our  ride. 
Our  last  ride!  The  last  of  everything  worth 
having,  it  has  been  for  me.  She  was  angry 
because  I  was  unwilling  to  go  into  —  that 
valley.  But  afterward,  when  she  learned  how 
intimately  I  had  been  associated  with  the  people 
at  the  chateau  there,  how  could  she  blame  me  ? 
I  suppose  she  did  learn  the  story?" 

"  She  learned  something  of  it,  I  know,  the  night 
after  we  rode  up  the  valley.  You  remember 
there  was  a  dance?  I  had  left  my  fan  in  our 
sitting-room,  and  ran  up  to  find  it.  There  was 
no  light  in  the  room,  and  Virginia  and  Sir  Roger 
were  on  the  balcony.  Of  course,  I  didn't  mean 
to  listen,  but  I  couldn't  find  the  fan  at  first,  and 
I  didn't  like  to  startle  them  by  suddenly  switch- 


THE  CLOSED  DOOR  87 

ing  on  the  light,  so  I  —  er  —  I  overheard  a  little 
of  the  conversation.  Sir  Roger  was  telling  her 
the  story  of  that  unfortunate  Maxime  Dalahaide 
— why,  Marchese,  how  you  must  have  loved  him! 
The  very  mention  of  his  name  turns  you  pale." 

"We  were  like  brothers,"  said  Loria  in  a  low 
voice.  "But  go  on.  Did  Sir  Roger  Broom 
mention  me  in  connection  with  the  story?" 

"Yes." 

"The  scoundrel!  That  explains  all,  then. 
This  is  your  honourable  English  gentleman,  who 
traduces  a  man  behind  his  back,  to  ruin  him  with 
the  girl  they  both  love!" 

"You  do  Roger  Broom  injustice.  He 
defended  you.  Virginia  thought  that  your 
friendship  was  not  worth  much,  since  you 
believed  Maxime  Dalahaide  guilty,  but  Sir  Roger 
assured  her  you  had  behaved  exceedingly  well." 

"H'm!  One  knows  what  faint  praise  can  do. 
Did  he  give  her  all  the  details  of  that  loathsome 
story.?" 

"No;  he  refused.  I  was  rather  sorry,  as  I 
was  interested  by  that  time.  Besides,  I  had 
wanted  to  know,  and  I  couldn't  think  of  any  one 


88         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

it  would  be  convenient  to  ask,  except  Sir  Roger 

or  you." 

**I  wish  he  had  told  her  all!  If  he  had,  she 
would  never  have  wished  to  hear  of  the  Dala- 
haides  again." 

**  You  speak  bitterly  of  your  old  friends." 

*'I.?  No,  you  misunderstand.  I  mean  only 
that  a  girl  —  a  stranger  —  would  be  horrified  if 
she  could  know  the  full  details.  It  was  a  ghastly 
affair.  I  loved  Max,  but  there  was  no  excuse  for 
him  —  none.  And  it  would  be  better  for  Miss 
Beverly  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  that  family. 
They  bring  unhappiness  to  all  who  come  near 
them.  It  is  as  if  they  were  under  a  curse,  which 
every  one  connected  with  them  must  share.  I 
can't  bear  to  think  that  so  black  a  shadow  should 
darken  her  sunlight.  Already,  you  see,  she  has 
changed.  She  goes  once  to  the  Chateau  de  la 
Roche,  and  the  spell  falls  upon  her." 

"I'm  not  sure  that  she  hasn't  been  more  than 
once,"  said  Lady  Gardiner. 

"Ah!  that  was  one  of  the  things  I  wished  to 
ask.     You  think  so?" 

"I  don't  know.     The  morning  after  we  all 


THE  CLOSED  DOOR  89 

went  there  she  disappeared  for  hours,  and  would 
say  nothing  except  that  she  had  slept  badly,  got 
up  early,  and  gone  off  for  a  ride.  Whether  Mr. 
Trent  was  with  her  or  not  I  can't  tell  but  when 
I  first  saw  her,  after  looking  everywhere,  they 
were  together,  so  absorbed  in  what  they  were 
saying  that  I  believe  if  a  revolver  had  been  fired 
within  a  dozen  yards  of  them  they  would  hardly 
have  heard  it.  At  luncheon  that  same  day.  Sir 
Roger  was  telling  me  how  he  had  seen  the  agent, 
and  found  out  about  the  chateau,  as  it  appears 
she  had  asked  him  to  do  —  she  has  but  to  ask  and 
to  have,  with  him,  you  must  know!  —  and 
though  she  was  pleased  and  interested  to  a 
certain  extent,  still,  she  seemed  to  be  thinking 
of  something  else." 

"That  something  else!  If  I  could  find  out 
what  that  was,  I  might  know  who  is  taking  her 
from  me." 

"I'm  afraid  it's  not  as  simple  an  affair  to 
unravel  as  that;  for  I  can  tell  you  one  of  the 
things,  at  least,  which  was  apparently  occupying 
her  thoughts  at  the  time,  yet  I  can't  quite  see  why 
or  how  it  could  have  much  to  do  with  you.     You 


90         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

remember,  perhaps,  that  you  came  while  we 
were  at  luncheon  the  day  after  our  ride  into 
the  Valley  of  the  Shadow,  and  proposed  that 
we  should  all  go  to  Monte  Carlo  on  your  motor- 
car, that  we  should  spend  the  afternoon  in  the 
Casino,  and  dine  with  you  at  the  Hotel  de  Paris  ? 
Virginia  said  that  she  had  important  letters  to 
write,  and  couldn't  go;  and  her  manner  was 
rather  distant." 

"It  chilled  my  heart." 

"Well,  she  asked  Sir  Roger  and  Mr.  Trent 
to  come  up  to  her  sitting-room  after  luncheon. 
Naturally,  I  was  there  too;  I've  been  told  to 
look  upon  the  room  as  my  own.  She  did  not  tell 
what  she  had  been  doing  in  the  morning,  but, 
wherever  she  had  been,  she  had  contrived  to 
discover  a  good  deal  more  about  the  Dalahaide 
story  than  Sir  Roger  had  been  willing  to  tell  her 
the  night  before,  and  she  announced  boldly,  that 
in  spite  of  everything,  she  believed  Maxime 
Dalahaide  was  innocent.  She  demanded  of 
Roger  —  who  has  spent  a  good  deal  of  time  in 
France,  you  know,  and  is  supposed  to  be  well  up 
in  French  law  —  whether  it  wouldn't  be  possible 


THE  CLOSED  DOOR  91 

to  have  the  case  brought  up  again,  with  the  best 
lawyers  in  the  country,  expense  to  be  no  object. 
When  Roger  had  shown  her  that  the  thing 
couldn't  be  done,  and  there  was  no  use  discussing 
it,  she  wanted  him  to  say  that  by  setting  some 
wonderful  detectives  on  the  trail  of  the  real 
criminal  the  truth  might  be  discovered,  and  the 
man  unjustly  accused  brought  home  in  triumph 
from  Noumea  by  a  penitent  Government.  Sir 
Roger  assured  her  that  was  hopeless.  That,  in 
the  first  place,  Maxime  Dalahaide  wasn't 
innocent,  and  that,  in  the  second  place, 
even  if  he  were,  his  innocence  would  be  still 
more  impossible  to  prove  after  all  these 
years  than  it  would  have  been  at  the  time 
of  the  trial." 

"What  did  she  reply  to  that?" 

"Nothing.  She  was  silent  and  seemed 
impressed.  She  became  very  thoughtful.  Since 
then  I  have  not  heard  her  say  one  word  of 
the  Dalahaides,  except  incidentally  about  the 
chateau,  which  she  actually  means  to  buy,  and 
have  restored  in  time  to  come  to  it,  if  she  likes, 
next  year.     Now,  I  don't  see  why  her  interest 


92         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

in  the  Dalahaides,  if  she  continues  to  feel  it, 
should  interfere  with  her  friendship  for  you." 

Loria  did  not  answer.  He  sat  thinking 
intently,  his  dark  eyes  staring  unseeingly  out  of 
the  window.  At  last  he  spoke.  "  Why  —  why 
should  she  interest  herself  in  this  cold-blooded 
murderer,  whose  best  friends  turned  from  him 
in  horror  at  his  crime  ?  Is  it  pure  philanthropy  ? 
Has  the  sister  implored  Miss  Beverly  to  throw 
her  money  into  this  bottomless  gulf?  What 
happened  when  you  were  at  the  chateau  that  day 
I  never  knew." 

"  We  thought  that  the  subject  was  disagreeable 
to  you,"  said  Kate.  "We  saw  and  spoke  with 
Miss  Dalahaide,  a  pale,  cold  girl,  dressed  in 
black,  with  a  voice  that  somehow  sounded  — 
dead.  She  did  not  mention  her  brother,  and 
seemed  so  reserved  that  I  should  think  it  would 
be  difficult  to  break  the  ice  with  her.  Indeed, 
she  appeared  very  annoyed  at  the  necessity  for 
showing  us  a  little  room  with  a  life-size  picture 
in  it,  which  I  fancied  must  be  a  portrait  of  the 
brother." 

A  curious  shiver  passed  through  Loria's  body. 


THE  CLOSED  DOOR  93 

"Miss  Beverly  saw  that  portrait  ?"  he  asked  in 
a  low,  strained  voice. 

"Yes,  and  I  noticed  that  she  kept  glancing  at 
it  again  and  again  while  we  stopped  in  the  room. 
I  suppose  a  morbid  sort  of  curiosity  regarding 
a  murderer  is  natural,  even  in  a  young  girl, 
provided  his  personality  is  interesting." 

Once  more  Loria  remained  silent,  his  face  set 
in  hard  lines. 

"Such  a  man  as  Maxime  Dalahaide  must  have 
been  before  his  fall,  would  be  a  dangerous  rival," 
Lady  Gardiner  went  on,  with  a  spice  of  malice. 
She  was  watching  Loria  as  she  spoke,  and 
thrilled  a  little  at  the  look  in  his  eyes  as  he 
turned  them  upon  her.  "Oh,  these  Italians!" 
she  thought.  "They  are  so  emotional  that  they 
frighten  one.  Their  passions  are  like  caged 
tigers,  and  you  never  quite  know  whether  the 
cage  door  is  safely  locked." 

"  Maxime  Dalahaide  will  never  be  dangerous 
to  any  man  again  on  this  earth  —  not  even  to 
himself,  since  the  worst  has  happened  to  him 
that  can  happen,"  answered  Loria. 

"Strange  if,  although  he  is  buried  in  a  prison- 


94         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

land  at  the  other  end  of  the  world,  he  might  still, 
in  a  vague,  dim  way,  be  a  rival  to  fear  more  than 
another,"  Kate  reflected  dreamily.  Aloud  she 
went  on:  "It  seems  ridiculous  to  say  so,  but  I 
believe  that  Virginia  is  making  a  hero  of  him. 
She  has  never  seen  this  man  —  she  never  can  see 
him;  yet  his  image  —  evolved  from  that  portrait 
at  the  chateau  which  was  his  old  home  —  may 
blur  others  nearer  to  her." 

"Great  heavens!  You  believe  that?" 
"I  merely  suggest  it.  The  idea  only  occurred 
to  me  at  this  moment.  But  Virginia  is  certainly 
thinking  of  Maxime  Dalahaide.  To-day,  she 
was  reading  a  French  book  about  Noumea. 
She  hid  it  when  I  came  into  the  room;  but  later 
I  came  across  it  by  accident.  Yes,  she  is  think- 
ing of  him,  but  it  is  only  a  girl's  foolish,  romantic 
fancy,  of  course  —  a  spoilt  child,  crying  for  the 
moon,  because  it's  the  one  thing  that  no  adoring 
person  can  get  for  her.  I  shouldn't  worry  about 
it  much,  if  I  were  you.  Indeed,  perhaps  she 
sees  herself  that  she  is  not  very  wise,  and  wants 
to  forget.  Now  she  has  set  her  heart  on 
a  yachting  trip;   but  you  must   not   speak  of 


THE  CLOSED  DOOR  95 

it  to  her  or  the  others,  for  she  asked  me  not 
to  tell." 

"She  gives  me  little  enough  chance  to  speak 
of  anything.  A  short  time  ago  she  would  not 
have  cared  for  a  yachting  trip,  unless  I  were  to 
be  of  the  party.  Now,  I  suppose,  her  wish  is 
to  be  rid  of  me.'* 

"Her  wish  is  also  to  be  rid  of  me." 

"You  are  not  to  go?" 

"Not  if  Virginia  can  make  a  decent  excuse  to 
leave  me  behind." 

"Who,  then,  goes  with  her.?" 

"Her  half-brother,  and  Sir  Roger  Broom.  She 
isn't  even  going  to  take  a  maid." 

"Heavens!  It  is  Sir  Roger  Broom,  then,  who 
will  win  her!" 

"I  don't  know  what  to  think.  She  has 
refused  him;  he  is  many  years  older  than  she, 
and  she  has  known  him  since  she  was  a  child, 
for  Sir  Roger  went  often  to  America  while  her 
father  —  his  cousin  —  was  alive.  Why  should 
she  suddenly  make  up  her  mind  to  marry  him  ? 
He  was  her  guardian  during  her  minority,  or 
what  remained  of  it  after  her  father's  death; 


96  THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

now  she  has  had  her  one-and-twentieth  birth- 
day, and  is  her  own  mistress.  I  fancied  that  she 
intended  to  remain  so  for  a  time,  unless  she  lost 
her  head  —  or  her  heart  —  and  Sir  Roger,  nice 
as  he  is,  is  scarcely  the  man  to  make  a  girl  like 
Virginia  Beverly  do  either.  Still,  I  don't  under- 
stand the  yachting  trip.  It  is  in  every  way 
mysterious;  and  since  you  have  asked  my 
advice,  it  is  this:  find  out  where  they  are 
going,  and  appear  there,  as  if  by  chance.  By 
that  time  our  spoiled  beauty's  mind  may 
have  changed." 

"Won't  you  tell  me  where  they  are  going.?" 
"I  would  if  I  could."  This  was  true,  since 
Kate  was  sure  that,  change  as  Virginia  might, 
she  would  never  return  to  her  brief,  ballroom 
fancy  for  the  Italian.  "I  hinted  at  Naples, 
Greece,  and  Egypt,  and  Virginia  answered  that 
it  would  be  *  something  of  the  sort  *  —  answered 
evasively,  saying  nothing  was  decided  yet;  and 
so  the  conversation  would  have  ended  if  George 
Trent  hadn't  come  bursting  in,  very  excited,  ex- 
claiming before  he  saw  me  that  he'd  got  hold  of 
exactly  the  right  steam  yacht,  with  jour  cannon.** 


THE  CLOSED  DOOR  97 

Loria  started  like  a  sensitive  woman.     "A 
yacht  with  four  cannon!     What  can  they  want 
-with  cannon?" 

;  "I  asked  if  they  were  fitting  out  for  pirates, 
.  and  Mr.  Trent  assured  me  that  the  cannon  being 
^  on  board  was  a  mere  accident;  they  would  not 
have  them  removed,  but  they  had  no  intention  of 
•  making  use  of  them.  Still,  there's  no  doubt  that 
^  there's  some  mystery  behind  this  yachting  expedi- 
tion.    I  can't  make  it  out  at  all.     Whether  it  is 

Mr.  Trent's  plan " 

I      "But  he  would  not  wish  to  go  without  you.'* 

"A  few  days  ago,  perhaps  not.     But  others 

besides  Virginia  have  changed.     That  day  when 

we  rode  up  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow,  as  they 

-  call  it,  was  destined  to  be  an  eventful  day  for 

us  all." 

"You  mean " 

"  I  mean  that  George  Trent  is  a  different  man 
since  he  went  to  the  Chateau  de  la  Roche." 

A  dark  flush  rose  to  Loria's  forehead.     "He 
met  Madeleine  Dalahaide.^" 

"One  might  think,  from  your  expression  and 
accent,  that  you  were  jealous." 


98         THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"  One  would  think  wrongly  then.  A  man  can't 
be  in  love  with  two  women  at  the  same  time." 

*'  Can't  he  ?  I  wasn't  sure.  Men  are  strange; 
perhaps  there's  something  of  the  dog  in  the 
manger  about  them,  at  times.  At  all  events, 
George  Trent  is  much  interested  in  the  yachting 
trip,  and  he  doesn't  want  me  to  go.  Perhaps 
Miss  Dalahaide  is  to  be  of  the  party;  and  in  that 
case  I  should  be  the  odd  woman.  Not  that  it 
matters  to  me.  George  was  pleasant  to  flirt  with 
but  I  should  not  marry  again,  unless  I  married 
money.  Virginia's  great  fortune  comes  from 
her  father,  George's  step-father,  who  was  jealous 
of  the  mother's  affection  for  the  first  husband's 
son,  and  disliked  him.  George  will  accept 
nothing  from  Virginia,  and  has  only  what  his 
mother  could  leave  him  —  a  miserable  five 
thousand  dollars  a  year." 

Loria  scarcely  listened.  His  level  black  brows 
were  drawn  together.  "  She  was  reading  a  book 
about  Noumea,"  he  said  slowly.  "  What  if  — 
no,  it  is  impossible  —  impossible!" 

"What  is  impossible.?  If  I  am  to  help  you, 
you  must  have  no  secrets  from  me." 


THE  CLOSED  DOOR  99 

"She  could  not  hope,  if  she  went  there,  to 
see  him.  Bah!  The  bare  thought  is  mon- 
strous." 

"It  is  a  little  far-fetched,"  said  Kate.  "I 
should  think  the  adventure  they  are  undertaking 
will  be  no  more  startling  than  an  attempt  to 
reach  the  Second  Cataract.  The  cannon  might 
be  needed  there,  you  know." 

"That  is  true.  But,  Lady  Gardiner,  you 
must  find  out  where  they  are  going,  and  let 
me  know.  A  hundred  diamond  serpents  would 
not  be  enough  to  testify  my  gratitude.  You 
mean  to  go  with  them  ?" 

"If  they  will  take  me." 

"  They  must  take  you.  They  must !  You  are 
my  only  hope,  the  only  link  that  will  be  left 
between  me  and  Virginia  Beverly.  Listen! 
We  are  talking  frankly  to  each  other,  you  and  I. 
We  never  thought  to  be  such  friends  —  but  we 
are  friends,  and  must  trust  each  other  to  suc- 
ceed. You  often  speak,  half-jestingly,  of  being 
poor.  I  have  money  —  I  don't  say  enough; 
who  has  enough.^  But  I  am  not  a  poor  man. 
Watch    Virginia    for    me;     watch    Sir    Roger 


100       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

Broom.  Let  me  know  where  this  yacht  is 
taking  you,  whom  she  carries,  all  that  happens 
on  board  of  her.  Advise  me,  from  what  you 
see  of  passing  events;  and  for  all  these  ser- 
vices, worth  an  inestimable  sum  to  me,  I  will 
give  you  what  I  can  afford  —  say,  a  thousand 
pounds.  You  shall  have  half  down  the  day 
you  start,  and  the  other  half  the  day  that  you 
return." 

"You  are  generous;  and  —  I  will  be  loyal,*' 
said  Kate.  "It  will  not  be  my  fault,  I  promise 
you,  if  the  yacht  sails  without  me.  Now  I  must 
go.  We  must  have  been  talking  here  for  more 
than  an  hour,  for  Virginia's  carriage,  which  she 
lent  me,  has  just  driven  up  to  the  door.  When- 
ever there  is  a  new  development  of  this  mystery, 
which  interests  us  both,  you  shall  know  it.  I 
wish  I  could  take  you  up  to  Cap  Martin  with  me, 
if  you  are  ready  to  go  that  way,  but  perhaps  it 
would  be  wiser  not  —  especially  as  the  victoria 
isn't  my  own.'* 

Kate  Gardiner  had  not  been  in  the  hotel  an 
hour  when  a  box  was  brought  to  her  door  by  the 
Marchese  Loria's  valet.    Inside  was  the  diamond 


THE  CLOSED  DOOR  101 

serpent.     She  told  herself  that  she  had  done  a 
very  good  afternoon's  work. 


Soon  every  one  knew  that  the  American  heiress 
and  beauty,  Miss  Virginia  Beverly,  had  bought, 
for  twenty  thousand  pounds,  the  famous  steam 
yacht  which  the  mad  Spanish  Prince  d'Almidares 
had  used  as  a  despatch  boat  at  the  time  of  the 
American  war  with  Spain.  For  some  time  it 
had  been  for  sale,  lying  in  harbour  at  Nice; 
but  it  had  been  too  costly  a  toy;  the  cannon 
with  which  it  was  armed  were  worth  only  the 
price  of  old  iron  to  most  buyers  of  yachts. 
They  were  equally  useless  to  Miss  Beverly  and 
her  party,  as  she  and  George  Trent  and  Roger 
Broom  impressed  upon  all  who  asked  questions ; 
but,  then,  what  was  the  use  in  wasting  time 
enough  to  dismantle  the  yacht,  as  she  was  wanted 
immediately,  and  the  cannon  were  too  cleverly 
concealed  to  injure  the  smart  appearance  of  the 
little  craft } 

It  was  given  out  that  the  Bella  Cuba  would 
touch  at  Greece,  go  on  to  Egypt,  and  perhaps 


102       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

visit  Algiers  and  Lisbon,  steaming  at  last  up  the 
Thames  to  Tilbury.  Virginia  Beverly  ostenta- 
tiously bought  thin  summer  clothing,  saying  that 
it  would  be  summer  weather  on  the  sea  before  she 
bade  good-bye  to  the  water.  Still,  Virginia 
announced  that  she  did  not  wish  to  be  bound 
down  to  a  definite  programme,  and  Kate  Gardi- 
ner had  to  be  satisfied  with  a  prospect  of  vague- 
ness if  she  intended  to  be  of  the  party. 

Not  for  a  single  moment  had  she  abandoned 
that  intention.  Even  if  she  had  not  stood  to  earn 
a  thousand  pounds  she  would  have  moved  heaven 
and  earth  to  go,  for  more  and  more,  as  the  days 
of  preparation  went  on,  her  curiosity  and 
excitement  increased. 

Roger  Broom,  it  was  clear,  had  been  intensely 
annoyed  when  he  was  informed  that  Lady 
Gardiner  had  so  far  overcome  her  fear  of  the 
sea,  as  to  wish  to  be  a  passenger  on  the  Bella 
Cuba.  He  had  said  little,  but  his  face  was 
expressive,  and  Kate  was  of  opinion  that  he 
would  have  said  a  great  deal  more,  had  not 
some  strong  motive  restrained  him.  Perhaps, 
she  thought,  this  motive  was  fear  of  rousing  her 


THE  CLOSED  DOOR  103 

suspicions  if  he  too  emphatically  advocated  her 
stopping  behind.  But  —  suspicions  of  what? 
That  was  the  question  she  often  asked  herself, 
and  could  never  answer. 

She  had  asked  it  of  Loria  also,  when  they  met 
—  as  secretly  as  if  the  bond  between  them  had 
been  a  forbidden  love.  But  if  the  truth  about 
the  yachting  trip  had  been  told,  even  he  had  no 
solution  ready  for  the  puzzle. 

At  last  the  yacht,  which  had  been  re-painted, 
was  ready,  the  captain  and  crew  of  picked  men, 
all  Englishmen,  were  engaged,  and  the  Bella 
Cuba  steamed  into  the  harbour  at  Mentone, 
exactly  one  month  from  the  date  (as  Kate 
happened  to  remember)  of  the  eventful  ride  into 
the  Valley  of  the  Shadow. 

They  were  to  start  in  two  days,  and  Lady 
Gardiner*s  heart  sank  at  the  thought  of  all  the 
physical  suffering  she  was  doomed  to  endure. 
Nevertheless,  when  Virginia  hinted  that,  if  she 
chose  to  think  better  of  her  decision,  it  was  not 
yet  too  late,  she  courageously  assured  the  girl  that 
she  was  looking  forward  to  the  trip.  She  had 
always  wanted  to  see  Egypt! 


104       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

The  yacht  was  swift,  and  had  proved  herself 
seaworthy,  but  she  was  comparatively  small,  and 
when  Kate  went  on  board  with  Virginia  to  inspect 
the  accommodation,  she  was  surprised  to  be 
shown  only  five  passenger  cabins.  Still,  as  she 
had  been  informed  that  there  were  to  be  but 
four  in  the  party,  she  did  not  see  why  it  would 
be  impossible  for  Virginia's  maid  to  go,  and 
ventured  to  say  as  much. 

"But  we  have  decided  to  take  a  doctor," 
explained  Virginia.  "We  shall  be  so  long  at 
sea  that  otherwise  it  really  wouldn't  be  safe." 

"For  my  part  I'd  much  rather  have  a  maid 
than  a  doctor,"  sighed  Kate,  to  whom  Virginia's 
Celestine  had  made  herself  agreeably  useful. 
"We  shall  have  nothing  worse  the  matter  with 
us  than  seasickness;  and  how  are  we  to  do  our 
hair?" 

Thus  bemoaning  her  fate,  she  passed  along 
the  line  of  white  and  gold  painted  doors,  and 
stopped  suddenly  at  a  sixth,  the  only  one  which 
was  closed.  Gently  she  tried  the  handle.  It 
did  not  yield. 

"One   would   think   that   this   ought   to   be 


THE  CLOSED  DOOR  105 

another  cabin,"  she  remarked  sweetly;  "else 
what  becomes  of  the  symmetry?  Now,  if 
only  it  were  one,  you  might  take  Celestine. 
You'd  be  so  much  more  comfortable." 

"That  cabin  can't  be  used,"  Virginia  said, 
her  eyes  very  bright,  her  cheeks  very  red.  "And 
if  you  want  Celestine,  Kate,  you  must  stop  on 
land." 

Lady  Gardiner  at  once  protested  that  she  was 
not  thinking  of  herself;  oh,  indeed  no !  but  merely 
of  her  dear  girl,  who  was  not  used  to  being  her 
own  maid.  She  said  no  more  of  the  locked  door, 
but  she  could  think  of  nothing  else.  Why  could 
the  cabin  not  be  used,  and  why  had  Virginia 
suddenly  grown  cross  at  the  bare  suggestion  that 
it  should  be.'^  Was  it  possible  that  Madeleine 
Dalahaide  was  going  after  all,  that  her  presence 
was  to  be  kept  secret  from  Kate  imtil  the  last 
moment,  and  that  she  was  to  have  this  state- 
room? Perhaps,  Lady  Gardiner's  jealous  sus- 
picion whispered,  she  was  already  in  the  cabin, 
and  had  locked  herself  in,  fearing  just  such  an 
intrusion  as  the  turned  key  had  prevented. 

That  night   she   saw  Loria,  and  told   him 


106       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

precisely  what  had  happened  on  board.  *'I 
shouldn't  wonder,"  she  said  reflectively,  **  if  the 
whole  mystery  of  this  trip  were  not  on  the  other 
side  of  that  closed  door.  Something  tells  me 
it  IS  so. 

**  When  do  you  start .?"  asked  the  Italian. 

"To-morrow,  at  five  in  the  afternoon." 

**  Could  you  make  an  excuse  to  go  on  board  in 
the  morning  alone?" 

"  Yes.  Celestine  has  taken  most  of  our  things 
on  to-day,  and  put  them  away  for  us.  We  are 
not  supposed  to  leave  the  hotel  till  three  o'clock. 
But  I  could  say  I  had  lost  something,  and  hoped 
that  I'd  left  it  on  the  Bella  Cuba.  Or  perhaps  I 
could  slip  on  board  without  saying  anything  until 
afterward.  But  what  good  would  it  do  me.'^ 
The  door  isn't  likely  to  be  unlocked;  and  I  can 
see  nothing  through  the  keyhole.  I  tried  this 
afternoon." 

"I  will  get  you  a  key  which,  if  there  isn't  one 
already  on  the  inside,  will  open  the  door." 

In  the  night  Kate  Gardiner  had  strange  dreams 
of  the  locked  cabin.  Twenty  times  in  her 
sleep  she  was  on  the  point  of  finding  out  the 


THE  CLOSED  DOOR  107 

secret,  but  always  woke  before  she  had  made  it 
her  own.  She  was  up  early  in  the  morning,  and 
went  out,  saying,  as  if  carelessly,  to  Celestine, 
that  she  must  buy  a  few  last  things  which  she 
had  forgotten.  In  the  town  she  met  Loria,  as 
they  had  arranged  over-night,  and  he  put  into 
her  hand  something  in  a  sealed  enevelope. 

"You  are  sure  this  will  do  it?'*  she  asked. 

"Sure,"  returned  the  Italian. 

Then  they  parted ;  Kate  took  a  small  boat  and 
was  rowed  out  to  the  Bella  Cuba,  which  lay 
anchored  not  far  from  shore. 

"I  have  come  on  board  to  look  for  a  diamond 
ring  which  I  think  I  dropped  in  my  cabin  yester- 
day,'* she  remarked  to  the  captain. 

He  turned  away,  all  unsuspicious  and  Kate 
hurried  to  the  saloon  off  which  the  cabins  opened. 
Already  she  had  broken  the  seal  on  the  envelope, 
and  taken  out  a  small,  peculiarly  shaped  steel 
implement.  With  a  quick  glance  over  her 
shoulder  and  a  loud  beating  of  the  heart,  she 
thrust  the  master-key  into  the  lock  of  the  closed 
door. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE    LADY   ON   THE  VERANDAH 

NO  ONE  was  coming;  Lady  Gardiner  dared 
to  turn  the  key.  The  door  opened,  and 
she  looked  into  the  room  beyond. 

It  was  a  cabin,  of  the  same  size  as  the  others,  and 
fitted  up  as  a  stateroom,  but  furnished  and  dec- 
orated differently.  The  five  which  Kate  had  been 
shown  yesterday  were  comfortable,  but  not  par- 
ticularly luxurious,  and  she  had  wondered,  since 
this  was  ostensibly  a  pleasure  trip,  that  beauty- 
loving  Virginia  had  not  thought  it  worth  while  to 
have  her  own  cabin,  at  least,  made  more  dainty. 

In  the  locked  stateroom,  whose  secret  Kate 
was  violating,  the  berth  was  hung  with  old 
brocaded  silk  of  blue  and  silver,  the  curtains 
edged  with  curious  thick  lace,  yellowed  by 
time.  On  the  floor  lay  a  beautiful  tiger-skin, 
covering  it  from  end  to  end.  A  large  fitted 
travelling-bag  stood  open  on  a  cushioned  seat, 

108 


THE  LADY  ON  THE  VERANDAH        109 

showing  silver-topped  bottles;  and  the  wall  on 
one  side  of  the  cabin  was  almost  hidden  with 
photographs  and  sketches  which  had  been 
tacked  up,  over  a  low  book-shelf,  filled  with 
volumes  in  uniform  binding  of  blue  and  gold. 
The  photographs  were  of  places  as  well  as  people, 
and  Kate  had  just  identified  the  Valley  of  the 
Shadow,  dominated  by  the  Chateau  de  la  Roche, 
when  a  sudden  sound  sent  her  out  of  the  cabin 
and  into  the  saloon,  with  her  heart  pounding  and 
her  nerves  throbbing,  in  shamed  fear  of  discovery. 

She  had  just  time  to  lock  the  door  and  pass  on 
to  that  of  her  own  stateroom  when  Celestine 
appeared,  carrying  various  small  parcels.  She 
had  been  sent  to  the  yacht  by  her  mistress  to 
finish  a  few  preparations  for  the  voyage,  and  was 
surprised  to  see  Lady  Gardiner.  Kate,  however, 
was  prepared  with  her  story  of  the  lost  ring,  which 
no  doubt  Celestine  would  repeat  to  Virginia,  and 
produced  the  jewel,  saying  that  fortunately  she 
had  found  it  on  the  floor  of  her  cabin. 

The  maid  had  no  suspicion,  probably  did  not 
dream  that  the  Bella  Cuba  had  a  secret  to  keep, 
and  Lady  Gardiner  was  rowed  back  to  shore. 


110       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

confident  that  she  had  come  safely  out  of  the 
morning's  adventure.  The  mystery,  however, 
remained  a  mystery,  except  that  Kate  was  cer- 
tain now  of  one  thing  which  she  had  only 
suspected.  There  was  to  be  a  passenger  on 
board  the  Bella  Cuba,  whose  expected  presence 
had  carefully  been  concealed  from  her.  For 
this  passenger  elaborate  preparations  had  been 
made.  Everything  behind  that  locked  door 
was  beautiful,  but  nothing  was  new.  In  the 
fleeting  glimpse  Kate  had  obtained  before  the 
sound  of  Celestine's  descending  steps  had  sent 
her  flying  from  her  stolen  inspection,  she  had 
been  impressed  with  the  feeling  that  the  decora- 
tions of  the  stateroom  had  all  been  taken 
from  some  other  room,  with  the  view  of  sur- 
roimding  its  occupant  with  old  associations. 

Lady  Gardiner  hoped  to  see  Loria  before 
going  back  to  the  hotel,  and  an  appointment 
had  been  made,  to  be  kept  as  nearly  to  the  time 
as  possible;  but  he  was  not  at  Rumpelmayer's, 
the  place  of  meeting,  and,  astonished  at  his 
defection,  she  was  obliged  to  return  to  the  Cap 
Martin  without  the  expected  talk.     In  her  room 


THE  LADY  ON  THE  VERANDAH        111 

she  found  a  line  from  the  Italian.  Sir  Roger 
Broom  had  seen  him  at  Rumpelmayer's,  he 
explained,  and  had  joined  him  there.  Fearing 
that  Lady  Gardiner  might  come  in  while  they 
were  together,  he  pleaded  an  engagement  and 
went  out,  still  accompanied  by  Broom.  Now, 
Loria  asked,  was  it  possible  that  Miss  Beverly's 
cousin  suspected  anything.?  Had  Lady  Gar- 
diner been  imprudent  and  dropped  the  slightest 
hint  of  their  new  allegiance.? 

Kate  had  begun  a  note  in  reply,  when  Virginia 
knocked  at  her  door,  inquiring  whether  she  were 
ready  for  luncheon.  "Wait  for  me  just  a 
moment  in  the  sitting-room,"  said  the  elder 
woman,  and,  her  ideas  confused  in  the  necessity 
for  haste,  she  merely  scrawled:  "Don't  think 
Sir  Roger  or  any  one  suspects.  Must  have  been 
an  accident.  Key  worked  well.  I  saw  cabin. 
It  is  ready  for  a  passenger.  I  would  wager  that 
that  passenger  is  Madeleine  Dalahaide.  Probably 
we  shall  not  have  a  word  together  in  private  now 
before  we  go,  but  will  write  you  from  every  port, 
or  wire  if  necessary  and  possible.  —  K.  G." 

This  note  she  took  down  to  the  dining-room 


112       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

with  her,  and  barely  had  a  chance  to  press  it  into 
Loria's  palm  as  he  bade  her,  with  the  others,  a 
rather  formal  farewell. 

The  Marchese  was  not  one  of  those  who  went 
out  to  the  yacht  to  see  the  last  of  the  beautiful 
American  girl  and  her  party.  Virginia  had 
definitely  refused  him  now,  and  the  old,  pleasant 
intimacy  had  been  brought  to  a  sudden  end. 
Nevertheless,  he  sent  her  flowers  —  a  great 
basket  of  roses  big  enough  to  fill  up  half  of  her 
stateroom  on  the  Bella  Cuba  — ^which  she 
promptly  gave  to  Kate,  with  various  other 
elaborate  offerings,  keeping  for  her  own  cabin 
only  a  small  bunch  of  fragrant  violets  sent  by 
some  one  whose  name  she  seemed  to  guess, 
although  there  was  no  card. 

So,  at  last,  they  were  off;  and  no  sad-faced 
girl  in  black  had  appeared.  Besides  the  original 
party  of  four,  there  was  only  a  little  dark,  keen- 
eyed  English  doctor,  taken  from  his  practice  in 
Mentone.  He  looked  like  a  man  who  would 
know  how  to  keep  a  secret,  and  Kate  wondered 
whether  the  mystery  of  the  Bella  Cuba  were  a 
mystery  to  Dr.  Grayle. 


THE  LADY  ON  THE  VERANDAH        113 

"Miss  Dalahaide  will  come  on  board  at 
Naples,"  Kate  said  to  herself  when  it  became 
certain  that  they  would  stop  there.  "She  is 
well  known  in  Mentone,  no  doubt,  and  didn't 
wish  it  to  leak  out  that  she  was  going  on  this 
yachting  trip.'* 

But  they  arrived  at  Naples,  sent  off  telegrams 
and  letters,  coaled,  and  left  without  taking  on 
another  passenger.  Always  it  seemed  to  Kate 
that  Virginia's  manner  showed  suppressed  ner- 
vous excitement.  She  was  restless,  capricious, 
took  an  interest  in  nothing  for  more  than  ten 
minutes  together.  She  had  never  been  to 
Naples  before,  yet  she  appeared  to  grudge  the  two 
or  three  hours  they  spent  in  driving  about,  and 
would  not  listen  to  Kate's  suggestion  that  they 
should  stop  long  enough  for  a  visit  to  Pompeii. 

"Next  time,"  she  said  evasively.  Altogether, 
she  had  not  at  all  the  air  of  a  young  woman 
yachting  for  pleasure,  as  of  course  she  must  be, 
since  what  other  object  could  the  trip  have ?  "I 
am  in  a  hurry  to  see  Cairo,"  she  replied,  when 
Lady  Gardiner  inquired  the  reason  of  her 
impatience. 


114       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

After  all,  they  did  not  touch  at  Greece,  but 
went  straight  on  to  Alexandria,  the  sea  being  so 
calmly  unruffled  that  even  Kate  had  no  excuse 
for  illness.  She  might  have  been  very  happy  in 
these  long,  lazy,  blue-and-gold  days,  if  George 
Trent  had  been  his  old  self.  But  the  frost  which 
had  withered  the  flower  of  his  fancy  for  her  that 
day  in  the  Valley  of  the  Shadow,  had  never 
thawed.  He  read  and  smoked  a  great  deal, 
leaving  Roger  Broom  to  amuse  Virginia  and 
Lady  Gardiner. 

Something  went  wrong  with  the  engine  the 
morning  when  they  expected  to  reach  Alexandria 
and  Kate  heard  talk  of  a  "heated  bearing  on  the 
crankshaft,"  which  might  have  to  be  taken  off, 
thus  delaying  them  a  couple  of  days.  "But  a 
couple  of  days!"  she  exclaimed  in  surprise. 
"Surely  you  mean  to  stop  longer  than  that!" 
"We  hadn't  thought  of  it,"  answered  Roger 
drily. 

"Are  you  going  up  the  Nile  then  ?" 
"No;  the  Bella  Cuba  is  rather  big,  you  know." 
"Not  so  big  as  the  excursion  boats  that  go, 
is  she?" 


THE  LADY  ON  THE  VERANDAH        115 

"Virginia  doesn't  care  about  it,  anyhow;  she 
loves  the  sea  for  its  own  sake,  and  hasn't  come  as 
much  for  sight-seeing  as  for  a  complete  rest. 
^Vhile  the  repairs  are  being  done  we  shall  run  up 
to  Cairo  by  rail,  stop  a  night  at  the  Ghezireh 
Palace,  and  drive  out  for  a  look  at  the  Sphinx 
and  the  Pyramids." 

"You  really  are  the  most  extraordinary 
people!"  ejaculated  Kate.  "I  don't  know  what 
to  make  of  you." 

Roger  smiled,  and  was  silent.  He  had  the  air 
of  thinking  it  of  small  importance  whether  or  not 
Lady  Gardiner,  who  had  insisted  upon  coming 
on  this  trip,  knew  what  to  make  of  her  hosts  and 
hostess.  But,  then.  Sir  Roger  Broom  had  never 
more  than  tolerated  this  most  charming  of 
companions. 

Kate  had  kept  the  master-key  which  Loria  had 
given  her,  and  had  never  ceased  to  hope  for 
another  chance  to  investigate  the  locked  state- 
room, which  might,  she  told  herself  sometimes, 
have  a  hidden  occupant.  To  be  sure,  so  far  as 
she  knew,  no  other  passengers  had  come  on 
board  at  Naples;  but,  then,  they  had  all  been 


116       THE  CASTLE  OP  THE  SHADOWS 

away  from  the  yacht  for  several  hours,  and 
some  one  might  have  been  smuggled  into  the 
cabin.  With  this  fancy  lurking  in  her  mind, 
she  would  have  given  much  for  a  second  peep; 
but  she  had  never  found  a  moment  when  it 
seemed  safe  to  run  the  risk. 

She  could  imagine  no  reason,  if  Madeleine 
Dalahaide  had  come  on  board  at  Naples,  beyond 
spying-distance  of  old  acquaintances,  why  she 
should  remain  hidden  in  the  stateroom,  unless, 
indeed,  there  were  some  truth  in  Loria's  sugges- 
tion that  the  yacht  was  bound  for  New  Cale- 
donia, to  take  the  girl  out  to  her  convict  brother. 
In  that  case,  perhaps,  it  might  conceivably  be 
necessary  to  keep  the  captain  and  crew  in  ignor- 
ance of  her  presence,  lest  they  should  gossip  in 
port.  Still,  Virginia's  restlessness,  her  lack  of 
interest  in  the  beautiful  places  so  easy  to  visit, 
her  desire  to  remain  on  board  when  the  Bella 
Cuba  was  in  port,  seemed  to  point  to  some 
peculiar  motive  under  her  indifference  to  all 
pleasures  of  the  trip. 

In  Alexandria,  the  girl  "did  not  see  why  they 
should  pack  up  to  stop  a  night  in  Cairo."     What 


THE  LADY  ON  THE  VERANDAH        117 

if  the  crankshaft  could  be  repaired  sooner  than 
they  supposed?  Then  they  would  be  wasting 
time.  But  she  was  overruled,  and  just  before 
sunset  they  drove  up  to  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
hotels  in  the  world. 

The  evening  chill  was  beginning  to  fall,  yet 
many  people  still  lingered  on  the  huge  terrace 
overlooking  the  Nile,  where  the  "winging" 
sails  of  the  little  boats  were  pink  and  golden  as 
mother-o'-pearl,  reflecting  the  crimson  glory  of 
the  sky.  A  woman  sitting  alone  at  a  little  table 
looked  up  as  they  passed,  and  with  a  slight  start. 
Virginia  half  stopped,  staring  almost  rudely  at 
the  face  which  was  lifted  for  a  moment.  But  it 
was  only  for  a  moment. 

The  woman,  who  was  exceedingly  handsome, 
of  the  most  luscious  Spanish  type  of  beauty, 
flushed  under  the  American  girl's  intent  gaze, 
drew  up  a  sable  cape  which  had  partly  fallen 
from  the  shoulders  of  her  white  cloth  dress, 
and  turned  a  resentful  back. 

"What  a  handsome  creature,  but  awfully 
made  up!"  whispered  Kate,  who  had  no  mercy 
on  her  own  sex. 


118       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

Virginia  did  not  answer.  She  walked  on, 
looking  as  if  she  had  awakened  from  a  dream. 

At  dinner  that  night,  next  to  the  party  from 
the  yacht,  was  a  small  table  laid  for  one.  It  was 
unoccupied  until  they  had  half  finished  dinner; 
then  heads  began  suddenly  to  turn  toward  the 
door;  people  whispered,  there  was  a  perceptible, 
though  scarcely  definable  thrill  of  interest,  and  a 
tall  woman  in  sequined  black  tulle,  glittering 
with  diamonds,  came  slowly  up  the  room.  She 
must  have  known  that  all  eyes  were  upon  her, 
yet  she  appeared  unconscious.  Her  lashes  were 
cast  down  as  she  moved  toward  a  chair  held 
obsequiously  ready  by  a  waiter  at  the  little 
empty  table,  and  their  dusky  length  was  not 
second  even  to  Virginia's.  As  the  newcomer 
sat  down,  she  faced  Roger  Broom. 

"That  woman's  face  looks  somehow  familiar 
to  me,"  he  said,  "yet  I  can't  think  where,  if 
ever,  I  have  seen  it.  I  suppose  it  can  only  be  a 
chance  resemblance  to  somebody  or  other.'* 

Virginia  opened  her  lips  to  speak,  but  closed 
them  again  hastily.  Kate  then  threw  a  question- 
ing  glance   her   way,    and    saw   that   she   had 


THE  LADY  ON  THE  VERANDAH         119 

suddenly  growTi  pale.  *'I  wish  you  or  George 
would  find  out  who  she  is,"  the  girl  said  presently. 
"She  is  one  of  the  handsomest  women  I  ever 
saw.     If  possible,  I  should  like  to  know  her.'* 

*'I  can  promise  that  you  shall  at  least  know 
her  name,"  replied  Roger,  smiling.  "It 
wouldn't  be  safe  to  say  more."  And,  true  to 
his  word,  an  hour  after  dinner  he  came  to  the 
private  drawing-room  where  Virginia  and  Lady 
Gardiner  sat,  with  the  required  information. 

"The  strange  beauty  is  a  Portuguese  countess, 
he  announced.  "Her  name  is  De  Mattos, 
and  she  is  a  widow,  spending  the  winter  here 
alone,  except  for  her  maid.  She  is  much 
admired,  especially  by  men,  but  apparently  does 
not  care  to  make  acquaintances;  otherwise, 
as  she  seems  to  be  a  person  whose  name  the 
gossips  respect,  your  wish  might  perhaps  have 
been  gratified." 

"Have  you  remembered  yet  where  you  saw 
her  before.^" 

"I've  remembered  where  I  saw  some  one  like 
her.     But  it  is  not  the  same  woman." 
1  ou  re  sure  t 


120       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"Absolutely.  The  other  was  a  blonde  with 
Titian  hair.     And  she  has  been  dead  for  years." 

Virginia  said  no  more,  and  appeared  to  forget 
the  Portuguese  countess.  But  when  Lady  Gar- 
diner complained  of  being  tired,  and  went  off 
to  bed,  that  she  might  be  fresh  for  sight-seeing 
next  morning,  also  to  write  a  puzzled  letter  to 
the  Marchese  Loria,  Virginia  remained.  George 
Trent  had  gone  to  a  Cairene  theatre,  and  she 
and  Roger  were  alone  together. 

Scarcely  had  the  door  closed  upon  Kate 
Gardiner,  when  the  girl  sprang  up  from  her 
chair,  and  before  Roger  knew  what  she  meant 
to  do,  was  sitting  on  a  divan  beside  him,  her 
hand  on  his  sleeve. 

"Roger,"  she  exclaimed,  "I  thank  you  a 
thousand,  thousand  times  for  insisting  that  I 
should  come  here." 

"You  haven't  seen  anything  yet,"  he  returned. 
"Thank  me  after  to-morrow." 

"It's  the  most  wonderful  thing  in  the  world 
that  we  should  have  come,"  she  went  on.  "If 
we  had  employed  the  cleverest  detectives  in 
Paris  and  London  they  might  never  have  dis- 


THE  LADY  ON  THE  VERANDAH        121 

covered  what  chance,  merest  chance  —  if  there 
is  such  a  thing  as  chance  —  has  put  into  our 
hands  to-night." 

"What  are  you  talking  about,  dear  child?" 
asked  Roger. 

*'I'm  talking  about  Liane  Devereux,  the 
actress  that  Maxime  Dalahaide  is  supposed  to 
have  murdered.  You've  been  very  good,  Roger. 
I've  appreciated  it,  for  you  never  believed  in 
his  innocence.  Now  you  must  believe,  in  spite 
of  yourself,  since  she  is  here,  calling  herself  the 
Countess  de  Mattos." 

Roger  stared  at  her  in  amazement.  "But 
this  is  madness,  dear,"  he  said.  "Liane  Dev- 
ereux was  murdered;  whether  Maxime  Dala- 
haide or  another  was  her  murderer,  there  is  no 
possible  doubt  that  she  is  dead.  You  can't 
know  the  story  as  well  as  I  thought  you  did, 
if  you  don't  put  that  beyond  questioning." 

"I  tell  you,  Liane  Devereux  is  in  this  house, 
and  Providence  sent  me  here  to  see  her.  It's 
that  which  is  beyond  question." 

"Did  Madeleine  Dalahaide  show  you  the 
woman's  picture  ?" 


122       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"Yes,  two  pictures;  a  photograph  and  an 
ivory  mmiature.  She  kept  them  because  they 
were  her  brother's,  just  as  she  kept  everything 
of  his.  I  looked  at  them  again  and  again,  until 
I  knew  the  features  line  by  line.  I  can't  be 
mistaken.  This  is  the  same  woman.  There 
was  an  even  deeper  mystery  about  that  murder 
than  Maxime  Dalahaide's  best  friends  guessed." 

Roger  Broom  shrugged  his  shoulders  with  a 
despairing  laugh.  "For  light-hearted  tramp- 
ling on  established  facts,  give  me  an  American 
girl!"  he  exclaimed.  *'A  woman  is  murdered, 
her  body  found,  identified,  buried.  Four  or 
five  years  afterward  another  woman  appears, 
a  brunette,  while  Number  One  was  blonde. 
Number  One,  a  Frenchwoman,  was  murdered 
in  Paris;  Number  Two,  a  Portuguese,  is  spend- 
ing the  winter  in  Cairo.  There  is  absolutely 
nothing  to  link  these  women  together  except 
a  resemblance  of  feature,  which,  though  strong, 
is  not  convincing  even  to  a  man  who  saw  Number 
One  on  the  stage  many  times.  Yet  here  comes 
a  maiden  from  the  States,  who  was  in  the 
schoolroom  in  her  own  country  when  Number 


THE  LADY  ON  THE  VERANDAH        123 

One  was  murdered,  and  insists,  because  she 
has  seen  a  portrait  or  two,  that  Liane  Devereux, 
the  dead  actress,  and  the  Countess  de  Mattos 
are  one  and  the  same." 

**I  know  it  sounds  childish,"  admitted  Vir- 
ginia, with  unwonted  meekness;  "nevertheless, 
I'm  absolutely  sure.  I'd  stake  my  life  on  it, 
if  it  were  necessary." 

*'  How  do  you  proceed  to  explain  the  identifica- 
tion and  burial  of  Liane  Devereux's  body  if  she 
is  now  alive  in  Cairo  ?" 

"  I  don't  pretend  to  explain  —  yet.  There 
was  a  mistake  —  that's  all  I  can  say." 

"Liane  Devereux  was  too  well  known  for 
that  to  be  possible.  Besides,  if  there  had  been 
such  a  mistake,  another  woman,  murdered  and 
buried  in  her  place,  must  have  been  missing. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  no  other  woman  was 
missing." 

"You  mean  no  other  woman's  disappear- 
ance was  discovered." 

"You're  incorrigible!  I  know  you're  wrong; 
but,  admitting  for  the  sake  of  argument  that 
you  might  be  right,  what  use  could  you  make  of 


124       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

this  marvellous  private  information,  supplied 
to  your  brain  only  ?  If  the  Countess  de  Mattos 
is  really  Liane  Devereux,  come  to  life,  one  might 
be  sure  that  a  woman  clever  enough  to  plan  from 
the  beginning  so  astounding  an  affair  would 
be  too  clever  to  leave  any  tracks  behind  her." 

"Yes,  that  is  one  of  the  difficulties,"  said 
Virginia.   "Only  somehow  we  must  get  over  it." 

*'I  hope,  my  dear  free-lance  detective,  that 
you  aren't  plotting  to  accuse  the  Countess  to 
her  face,  and  have  a  dramatic  scene  in  the  hall 
of  the  Ghezireh  Palace  .P" 

"I  don't  know  yet  what  to  do,"  the  girl 
answered  slowly.  "But  I  don't  want  to  leave 
Cairo  until  after  we've  done  something." 

"Believe  me,  there's  nothing  to  do.  We  are 
on  a  wild-goose  chase  as  it  is;  don't  let's  com- 
plicate things  by  a  suit  for  slander  just  as  it's 
begun.  My  advice  is,  dear,  put  this  mad  idea 
out  of  your  head,  and  let's  get  on  about  our 
business  as  quickly  as  we  can  —  as  quickly  as 
you  yourself  wanted  to  do  a  few  hours  ago." 

"Then  I'm  sorry  I  can't  take  your  advice," 
said  Virginia.     "I'm  growing  superstitious.     I 


THE  LADY  ON  THE  VERANDAH        125 

believe  that  I  was  brought  here  for  a  particular 
purpose,  and  I  don't  mean  to  go  until,  in  some 
way,  I've  accomplished  that  purpose." 

Roger  sighed,  and  said  no  more.  He  had 
exhausted  his  stock  of  arguments;  he  knew 
Virginia  almost  as  well  as  he  loved  her.  He  had 
promised  cooperation;  and  though  there  had 
been  no  bargaining,  she  had  voluntarily  led  him 
to  hope  for  a  reward  which,  to  him,  was  beyond 
any  other  happiness  the  world  might  hold. 
Therefore  he  could  do  nothing  but  bow  to  the 
inevitable,  and  await  developments,  which  meant, 
with  a  girl  like  Virginia  Beverly,  expecting  the 
unexpected. 


Suddenly  in  the  night  Virginia  sat  up  in  bed 
and  exclaimed  aloud:  *'Oh,  if  I  could!"  Kate 
Gardiner,  in  a  room  adjoining,  heard  her,  and 
supposed  that  she  was  talking  in  her  sleep.  But 
the  truth  was  that  a  plan  had  at  that  instant 
sprung  fully  armed  from  her  brain,  like  Minerva 
from  the  head  of  Jove ;  a  plan  so  daring  that  the 
bare  thought  was  an  electric  shock. 


126       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

She  could  not  sleep  after  its  conception,  but 
lay  tossing  and  tingling  until  it  was  time  to  get 
up.  Every  moment  would  be  long  now  until  the 
machinery  could  be  set  in  motion,  and  she 
bathed  and  dressed  hastily,  having  long  ago 
ceased  actively  to  miss  Celestine's  lost  ministra- 
tions. 

There  was  no  sound  in  the  next  room.  Kate 
was  not  yet  awake,  evidently;  and  so,  as  she 
took  quite  two  hours  for  dressing  and  beautify- 
ing, it  would  be  foolish  to  wait  for  her.  Virginia 
went  downstairs,  looking  about  in  vain  for 
Roger  or  George,  and  stepped  out  on  to  the 
wide  verandah,  for  a  look  at  the  Nile  by  morning 
light.  To  her  joy  the  beautiful  Portuguese 
countess  was  there,  breakfasting  alone,  with  a 
yellow-covered  French  novel  open  on  the  little 
table  before  her.  Virginia  instantly  decided 
that  she  would  also  breakfast  on  the  verandah, 
and  as  near  to  the  Countess  as  possible. 

As  the  American  girl's  pale  blue  serge  rustled 
its  silk  lining  along  the  floor,  the  Portuguese 
woman  raised  her  eyes  from  the  novel  she  was 
reading  as  she  sipped  her  coffee.     The  eyes  had 


THE  LADY  ON  THE  VERANDAH        127 

appeared  almost  black  in  the  evening;  now 
Virginia  saw  that  they  were  a  curious,  greenish 
gray,  and  her  heart  gave  a  leap,  for  the  eyes  of 
Liane  Devereux,  in  the  painted  ivory  miniature, 
had  been  grey. 

Now  or  never,  Virginia  said  to  herself,  was  the 
time  to  begin  the  campaign.  She  seized  the  tide 
of  fortune  at  its  flood,  and  spoke  in  English, 
making  the  most  of  the  pretty,  drawling  Southern 
accent  of  the  State  after  which  she  had  been 
named,  because  American  girls  were  privileged  to 
be  eccentric. 

"  Good  morning,"  she  said.  "  Oh,  I  do  hope 
you  understand  my  language,  because  I  want 
to  tell  you  something." 

The  green-gray  eyes  of  the  Countess  shone 
keenly  between  their  heavy  black  fringes  during 
a  silent  moment  of  inspection,  which  must  have 
shown  her  Virginia  divinely  young,  and  child- 
ishly innocent  of  guile.  At  the  end  of  the 
moment  she  smiled. 

"Yes,  I  understand  English,  and  speak  it  a 
little,"  she  responded,  with  a  charming  accent, 
and  in  a  voice  musical  but  unexpectedly  deep. 


128       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

**  You  are  American,  is  it  not  ?  What  have  you  to 
tell  me  —  that  we  have  met  before,  somewhere  ?'* 

At  this  —  or  Virginia  imagined  it  —  there 
came  again  a  steely  flash  from  the  black  lashes. 
"Oh,  no,"  said  the  girl  hurriedly.  "I  never 
saw  you  until  yesterday.  What  I  want  to  tell 
you  is,  that  I  hope  you  will  forgive  me  for  staring 
at  you  as  I  did  then.  I  was  afraid  you'd  think 
me  rude.  But  I  just  couldn't  help  it,  you  are 
so  beautiful.  I  adore  beauty.  You  can  be 
sure  now  I'm  American,  can't  you  ?  for  nobody 
but  an  American  girl  would  say  such  things  to  a 
perfect  stranger.  I'm  glad  I  am  American,  for 
if  I  didn't  speak  I  don't  see  exactly  how  I  should 
get  to  know  you.  And  I  want  to  know  you 
very  much.  I  made  my  cousin.  Sir  Roger 
Broom  —  he's  English,  though  I'm  American  — 
ask  who  you  were,  so  I  heard  your  name. 
Mine  is  Virginia  Beverly.  Now  we're  intro- 
duced, aren't  we?"' 

The  Countess  laughed  and  looked  pleased. 
"I  have  seen  your  name  in  the  journals,"  she 
said  — "  the  journals  of  society  all  over  the 
world,  that  one  reads  in  hotels  when  one  has 


THE  LADY  ON  THE  VERANDAH        129 

nothing  better  to  do,  is  it  not?  They  told  the 
truth  in  one  thing,  for  they  said  that  you  were 
tres  belle.  And  you  have  bought  the  yacht  of  a 
Spanish  gentleman,  whom  I  have  known  a  little. 
Yes,  I  remember  it  was  a  Miss  Virginia  Beverly, 
for  it  is  not  a  name  to  forget ;  and  I  love  yachting." 

By  this  time,  Virginia  had  ordered  her  break- 
fast and  received  it,  but  she  was  far  too  excited 
to  make  more  than  a  pretense  at  eating.  It  was 
almost  as  if  the  Countess  de  Mattos  were  playing 
into  her  hands.  It  seemed  too  good  to  be  true. 
She  was  afraid  that  something  would  happen 
to  ruin  all;  that  she  would  lose  her  head,  and 
by  her  precipitancy  put  the  other  on  her  guard; 
yet  the  opportunity  was  too  admirable  to  be 
entirely  neglected. 

"If  you  like  yachting,  it  would  be  nice  if 
you  could  come  and  have  a  day's  run  with  us," 
said  the  girl.  **  The  Bella  Cuba  is  at  Alexandria, 
and  we  should  all  love  taking  you.  My  cousin 
and  my  half-brother,  George  Trent,  couldn't 
talk  of  anything  but  you  last  night.  Perhaps, 
later,  we  might  arrange  it,  if  the  railway  journey 
both  ways  wouldn't  bore  you." 


130       THE  CASTLE  OP  THE  SHADOWS 

"On  the  contrary,  I  should  be  charmed," 
replied  the  Countess.  She  flushed,  and  her  eyes 
brightened.  Virginia  looked  at  her  admiringly, 
yet  sharply,  and  said  to  herself:  "If  that  rich, 
dark  complexion  of  yours  is  make-up  —  as  it 
must  be  to  prove  my  theory  right  —  then  it's  the 
cleverest  make-up  that  any  vi^oman  ever  had  as 
a  disguise." 

At  this  moment  Sir  Roger  Broom  and  George 
Trent  came  out  on  to  the  verandah  together,  both 
looking  very  much  surprised  to  see  Virginia  in 
conversation  with  the  Countess  de  Mattos. 

"  Can  she  have  said  anything  ?**  Roger  thought 
quickly.  But  the  calm  expression  of  the  beauti- 
ful, dark  face  was  in  itself  an  answer  to  his 
silent  question. 

The  two  men  strolled  up  to  Virginia,  who 
asked  and  received  permission  from  the  Countess 
to  introduce  her  brother  and  cousin;  and  soon 
they  were  talking  as  if  they  had  known  each 
other  for  days  instead  of  moments. 

The  Portuguese  beauty  was  distinctly  ingrati- 
ating in  her  manner  to  all  three,  so  much  so  that 
Roger  became  thoughtful.     He  was  more  certain 


THE  LADY  ON  THE  VERANDAH        131 

than  ever,  if  that  were  possible,  that  this  woman 
was  not  Liane  Devereux,  for  the  voice  was  many 
tones  deeper,  and  the  Countess  spoke  English 
with  an  accent  that  was  not  at  all  French. 

It  seemed  to  him  that  no  woman  could  dis- 
guise herself  so  completely  —  face,  voice,  man- 
nerisms, accent  —  no  matter  how  clever  she 
might  be ;  besides,  Virginia's  idea  was  ridiculous. 
But  he  began  to  wonder  whether  the  lovely 
Portuguese  had  a  right  to  her  title,  or,  if  she  had, 
whether  it  were  as  well  gilded  as  her  charming 
frocks  and  her  residence  at  this  expensive  hotel 
would  suggest  at  first  sight. 

It  seemed  to  him  that  she  caught  too  readily 
at  new  acquaintances  for  a  rich  and  haughty 
daughter  of  Portuguese  aristocracy,  and  though 
he  believed  that  he  understood,  only  too  well, 
Virginia's  motive  for  cultivating  a  friendship, 
he  was  inclined  to  fear  that  the  girl  might  be 
victimized  by  an  adventuress. 

The  Countess  de  Mattos  was  too  handsome 
and  too  striking  not  to  have  been  remarked  in 
Cairo,  no  matter  how  quietly  she  might  live  at 
the  Ghezireh  Palace  Hotel,  and  he  determined 


1S2       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

to  make  inquiries  of    some  officers   whom  he 

knew  there. 

At  all  events,  plans  for  the  present  were 
changed.  Instead  of  a  day  or  two  in  Cairo  they 
were  to  stay  on  indefinitely.  George,  as  well 
as  Roger,  was  taken  into  the  secret,  but  Lady 
Gardiner  was  told  only  the  fact.  She  was 
pleased  at  first,  for  she  was  fond  of  Cairo,  and 
had  never  had  a  chance  to  stop  there  in  luxury 
before.  She  did  not,  however,  like  the  Countess 
de  Mattos,  who  was  much  too  handsome  to  be 
acceptable  to  her;  and  before  the  slower  and 
more  prudent  Roger  had  learnt  anything,  she  was 
primed  with  all  the  gossip  of  the  hotel  regarding 
the  Portuguese  beauty.  There  was  a  certain  Mrs. 
Maitland-Fox  at  the  Ghezireh  Palace,  whom 
Lady  Gardiner  had  met  before,  and  from  her  she 
gathered  the  crumbs  of  gossip  Avith  which  she 
immediately  afterward  regaled  Virginia. 

"They"  said  that  the  Countess  de  Mattos, 
although  she  might  really  be  a  countess  (and 
there  were  those  who  pretended  to  vouch  for 
this),  had  scarcely  a  penny.  She  traded  on  her 
beauty  and  the  lovely  clothes  with  which  some 


THE  LADY  ON  THE  VERANDAH        133 

trusting  milliner  must  have  supplied  her,  to 
pick  up  rich  or  influential  friends,  from  whom 
she  was  certain  to  extort  money  in  some  way  or 
another.  And  it  was  Mrs.  Maitland-Fox's 
advice  that  Miss  Beverly  should  be  warned  to 
beware  of  the  beautiful  lady. 

Among  his  friends,  Roger  heard  something  of 
the  same  sort,  and  though  he  was  bound  to  admit 
that  it  was  all  very  vague,  he  begged  Virginia  to 
abandon  a  forlorn  hope,  and  let  the  Portuguese 
woman  alone. 

"If  she  were  really  a  Portuguese  woman  she 
might  vanish  from  before  my  eyes,  for  all  I 
should  care,"  obstinately  returned  the  girl. 
"  But  she  is  Liane  Devereux,  and  if  she  breathed 
poison  I  wouldn't  let  her  go  till  I  had  torn  out 
her  secret." 

"How  do  you  mean  to  set  about  doing  that  .^" 
demanded  Roger. 

"That  is  my  secret,"  said  Virginia.  "Only 
let  me  alone  and  don't  thwart  me,  or  you'll  spoil 
everything." 

Roger  waited,  expectant  and  apprehensive. 
He  had  not  to  wait  long. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   END  OF   THE  WORLD 

THEY  stayed  a  week  in  Cairo,  and  at  the  end 
of  that  time  the  Countess  de  Mattos  had 
accepted  an  invitation  to  go  yachting;  not  for 
a  day,  but  for  a  vague  period  of  "dawdling,"  as 
Virginia  evasively  expressed  it.  The  beautiful 
Portuguese  woman  had  hesitated  at  first,  and 
confided  to  the  American  girl  that,  on  account  of 
the  delay  in  receiving  an  expected  sum  of  money, 
she  did  not  quite  see  how  she  could  get  away  in 
time.  But  Virginia  had  begged  the  Countess 
not  to  let  such  a  small  difficulty  trouble  her  for  a 
moment.  She  really  must  accept  a  loan  to  tide 
over  the  little  annoyance;  it  would  indeed  be  too 
hard  to  lose  the  pleasure  of  her  companionship 
for  the  sake  of  a  few  paltry  dollars,  so  that  would 
be  no  favour  at  all,  or  rather,  the  favour  would  be 
the  other  way  round. 

The  **  few  paltry  dollars  "  necessary  turned  out 

134 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  135 

to  be  three  thousand;  but  if  they  had  been  three 
times  three  thousand  Virginia  would  have  lent 
them  just  as  cheerfully  without  the  prospect  of, 
or  even  wish  for,  their  return.  With  the  money 
obtained  from  Virginia's  practically  unlimited 
letter  of  credit  in  her  pocket,  and  a  hint  delicately 
expressed  that  more  would  be  at  her  service  when- 
ever she  wished,  "as  it  was  such  a  nuisance 
having  to  keep  in  touch  with  one's  bankers  and 
people  like  that  on  a  long  yachting  trip  when 
nothing  was  less  settled  than  one's  plans,"  the 
Countess  thought  herself  very  well  off. 

"Are  you  in  a  hurry  to  be  anywhere  in  par- 
ticular during  the  next  few  weeks  .'^"  asked  the 
girl  of  her  new  friend.  "No.?  How  nice! 
Then  let  us  throw  all  the  responsibility  of  plan- 
ning things  upon  the  men.  What  fun  never  to 
know  where  we  are  going,  but  to  be  surprised 
always  when  we  arrive  anywhere." 

And  the  Countess  de  Mattos  agreed.  She 
would  have  agreed  with  almost  anything  that 
Virginia  said  that  day.  If  the  American  girl 
believed  that  Providence  had  directed  her  to 
cross   the   path   of  this   beautiful   woman,   the 


136       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

beautiful  woman  was  equally  sure  that  the  god 
of  luck  had  put  this  infatuated  young  heiress  in 
her  way. 

Roger  would  hardly  have  consented  to  the 
carrying  out  of  Virginia's  plan,  which  he  called 
"kidnapping,"  had  George  Trent  not  joined  his 
arguments  to  his  sister's. 

"It  does  seem  a  mad  idea,"  he  admitted, 
**but  if  the  woman  isn't  Liane  Devereux,  no 
harm  will  be  done,  except  that  she'll  be  taken  a 
longer  journey  than  she  expects.  If  she  is  — 
ah!  I  know  what  you  think,  old  chap,  without 
your  lifting  your  eyebrows  up  to  your  hair; 
but,  by  Jove!  Virgie's  got  an  instinct  that's 
like  the  needle  of  a  compass.  When  she  says 
*north,'  I'd  bet  my  bottom  dollar  it  was  north, 
that's  all.  If  I  don't  object  to  Virgie's  associat- 
ing with  the  Countess,  you  needn't  —  yet, 
anyhow.  She  isn't  the  kind  of  girl  to  be  hurt 
by  that  sort  of  thing,  and,  besides,  she'll  have 
the  dickens  of  a  tantrum  if  we  try  to  thwart  her 
now  she's  set  her  heart  on  this  trick.  She'd 
be  equal  to  slipping  anchor  with  the  Countess  on 
board  and  leaving  us  in  the  lurch.     Let's  see 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  137 

the  little  girl  through  on  her  own  lines,  and  if 
the  snap  doesn't  come  off,  she  can't  blame  us. 
Anyway,  it's  rougher  on  me  than  on  you,  for 
Virgie's  put  me  up  to  do  the  agreeable  to  the 
Countess  and  keep  her  from  getting  restless 
before  we  attempt  to  spring  our  mine.  A  while 
ago  I  wouldn't  have  asked  anything  better  than 
flirting  all  day  with  such  a  woman,  who  is  as 
pretty  and  as  fascinating  as  they're  made, 
but  I'm  not  in  the  mood  for  it  now,  somehow. 
Still,  we're  playing  for  big  stakes  —  you  for 
yours,  Roger,  I  for  mine." 

This  was  the  only  reference  he  made  to  his 
interest  in  Madeleine  Dalahaide;  but  Roger 
guessed  what  was  in  his  mind. 

Lady  Gardiner  floundered  deeper  than  ever 
into  the  quicksands  of  mystery  when  she  heard 
that  the  Countess  de  Mattos  was  to  be  one  of  the 
party  for  the  rest  of  the  voyage  —  wherever  it 
was  to  take  them.  What  could  be  Virginia's 
object  in  picking  up  this  woman  ?  Was  it 
really  true  that  she  had  taken  the  violent  and 
sudden  fancy  to  her  that  she  feigned  to  feel, 
or  did  that  pretense  cloak  a  hidden  motive? 


138       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

Kate  had  no  clue,  unless  the  fact  that  Virginia 
had  asked  her  never  to  mention  Madeleine 
Dalahaide  or  the  Chateau  de  la  Roche  before 
the  Countess  could  be  called  a  motive.  She  would 
have  disobeyed  Virginia,  by  way  of  a  curiosity- 
satisfying  experiment,  if  she  had  not  feared  that 
the  result  might  be  disastrous  and  that  she  would 
be  found  out. 

At  least  she  would  in  a  gentle,  tactful  way  have 
suggested  objections  to  the  Countess  de  Mattos's 
presence  on  the  yacht,  had  she  not  been  certain 
that  Virginia  would  have  frankly  advised  her 
to  stay  behind  if  she  did  not  like  the  arrange- 
ments for  the  rest  of  the  trip.  Much  as  she 
loved  Cairo  in  the  height  of  its  gay  season,  much 
as  she  hated  the  sea  at  all  seasons,  nevertheless 
she  was  doggedly  determined  to  see  this  adven- 
ture to  the  end  (bitter  though  it  might  be),  not 
only  to  earn  her  thousand  pounds,  but  to  know 
the  secret  which  actually  kept  her  waking  and 
wondering  at  night. 

It  really  was  the  strangest  thing  that  Virginia 
should  want  this  adventuress  on  the  yacht, 
Kate  indignantly  remarked  to  Mrs.  Maitland- 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  139 

Fox.  The  girl  had  refused  to  take  a  maid 
because  there  would  not  be  room,  yet  now  she 
dragged  this  creature  on  board  to  flirt  with 
George  Trent  and  perhaps  inveigle  him  into 
a  marriage  under  the  impression  that  he  was 
as  rich  as  he  was  handsome. 

But  with  Virginia  herself,  after  the  first  few 
moments  of  surprise,  Lady  Gardiner  had  been 
circumspect.  She  had  not  even  dared  to  ask 
the  question  burning  on  her  lips  —  whether  the 
Countess  would  have  the  locked  stateroom, 
or  what  arrangement  would  be  made  for  her 
accommodation  ?  Obliged  to  wait  for  this  infor- 
mation until  the  hour  of  going  on  board  again, 
once  the  Countess  de  Mattos's  presence  was  to  be 
expected  without  hope  of  change,  Kate  began 
to  be  impatient  to  start. 

The  party,  counting  quiet,  keen-eyed  little 
Dr.  Grayle,  was  now  increased  to  six,  an  equal 
number  of  men  and  women,  for  the  Countess 
had  readily  given  up  her  maid.  They  all 
travelled  to  Alexandria  together  one  morning, 
and,  boarding  the  yacht,  Kate  eagerly  watched 
for  the  new  guest  to  be  taken  to  her  stateroom. 


140       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

Would  the  locked  door  be  opened?  No;  Vir- 
ginia led  her  past  that  mysterious,  closed  door, 
to  the  cabin  formerly  occupied  by  George  Trent, 
and  Kate  saw  that  the  young  man's  belongings, 
just  brought  back  from  Cairo,  had  been  set 
down  inside  the  stateroom  once  sacred  to  the 
doctor  alone.  In  this  there  were  two  berths, 
and  evidently  George  and  the  medical  man 
would  "chum"  together  for  the  rest  of  the 
voyage.  The  discovery  did  not  add  to  Lady 
Gardiner's  love  for  the  Portuguese  woman,  for, 
half  forgetting  her  uneasiness  concerning  Made- 
leine Dalahaide,  she  was  now  jealous  of  the  new 
beauty,  and  it  was  gall  and  wormwood  to  Kate 
that  George  Trent,  lost  to  her,  should  be  making 
gallant  sacrifices  of  his  personal  comfort  for 
another  woman. 

She  had  written  to  the  Marchese  Loria  on  the 
first  night  of  their  arrival  in  Cairo,  before  the 
acquaintance  with  the  Countess  had  begun,  and, 
as  she  could  learn  nothing  of  the  future  pro- 
gramme for  the  voyage,  it  had  not  seemed  worth 
while  to  write  again.  As  for  the  invitation  to 
the  Portuguese  woman,  Kate  did  not  see  that 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  141 

it  could  be  of  personal  interest  to  Loria,  and  she 
never  wrote  unless  she  had  something  to  say 
which  was  of  importance  to  him;  therefore  the 
Italian  remained  in  ignorance  that  the  Countess 
de  Mattos  was  a  member  of  the  little  party  on  the 
Bella  Cuba. 

So  far  as  the  trip  had  gone,  there  was  nothing 
to  excite  his  anxiety  save  that  the  girl  he  coveted 
for  her  beauty  and  her  money  was  going  farther 
and  farther  from  him.  But  one  day  a  telegram 
came  for  him  to  the  Cap  Martin  Hotel,  where  he 
still  remained.  It  was  dated  from  Port  Said. 
"Bound  for  Australia,"  were  the  three  words 
the  message  contained;  and  they  were  words  of 
heavy  import  to  Loria. 

Australia!  There  was  no  reason  why  Virginia 
Beverly  should  not  visit  Australia.  He  had 
heard  her  say  that  she  would  not  be  satisfied  until 
she  had  seen  all  the  world.  But  if  she  had 
thought  of  going  to  Australia  before  she  left 
Mentone,  she  had  carefully  refrained  from  saying 
so.  It  was  more  the  fact  that  she  had  concealed 
such  an  intention  than  that  she  was  now  carrying 
it  out,  which  seemed  ominous  to  Loria.     Sydney 


142       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

was  the  nearest  place  of  departure  for  New 
Caledonia.  In  a  Messageries  mail  boat  it  took 
ten  days  to  reach  Noumea  from  Sydney;  it 
would  perhaps  take  longer  in  a  yacht  like  the 
Bella  Cuba.  And  the  sensible  question  to  ask 
would  be.  Was  it  likely  that  a  bright,  erratic, 
butterfly  being  like  beautiful  Virginia  Beverly 
would  go  so  far  simply  for  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
the  prison  which  contained  a  stranger,  a  con- 
victed assassin  for  whom  she  had  conceived  a 
girlishly  romantic  interest  ? 

It  was  not  as  if  she  could  hope  to  meet  and 
talk  with  Maxime  Dalahaide  himself,  have  the 
pleasure  of  carrying  him  messages  from  his 
sister,  or  perhaps  even  bring  Madeleine  to  him 
(for  the  Chateau  de  la  Roche  was  empty  now, 
in  the  hands  of  workmen,  and  no  one,  not  even 
Loria,  had  been  able  to  learn  where  Made- 
moiselle Dalahaide  and  her  aunt  had  gone) .  The 
Italian  was  not  unlearned  in  such  lore  of 
the  far-away  French  prison-land  as  could  be 
obtained,  and  he  had  read  that,  though  strangers 
were  allowed  to  land  at  Noumea,  and  a  few  had 
been    enabled    through    influence    to    penetrate 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  143 

inside  the  prison  walls,  all  personal  intercourse 
with  the  convicts  was  strictly  interdicted.  Since 
the  one  almost  miraculous  escape,  over  thirty 
years  ago,  of  Henri  Rochefort  and  Humbert, 
watch  and  ward  had  been  more  strictly  kept 
than  ever;  besides,  they  had  escaped  from 
Ducos,  on  the  Isle  of  Pines,  which  in  those 
days  had  been  sacred  to  political  prisoners,  and 
discipline  there  had  been,  even  then,  lax  com- 
pared to  that  of  the  He  Nou,  the  very  heart 
of  prison-land,  where  Maxime  Dalahaide  was 
dragging  out  the  weary  years  of  his  lost  life. 

Yet  what  if  Virginia  should  have  formed  the 
extraordinary  resolve  of  going  to  Noumea? 
What  was  it  to  him  —  Loria  —  since  she  could 
accomplish  nothing  there  ?  Suppose,  even,  that 
among  other  miserable  convicts  she  saw  Maxime 

—  pallid,  thin,  sullen  and  hopeless,  his  good 
looks  and  his  brilliant  audacity  crushed  and  gone 

—  would  not  the  romantic  feeling  she  had  con- 
ceived for  him  be  instantly  turned  into  horror 
and  disgust?  When  such  a  chill  had  withered 
a  girl's  fancy  for  a  man,  there  could  be  no  future 
blossoming,  and  her  heart  might  be  caught  in 


144       THE  CASTLE   OF  THE  SHADOWS 

the  rebound.  Once,  Loria  had  thought  that 
Virgmia  had  been  on  the  point  of  caring  for  him. 
Perhaps  when  they  met  she  would  turn  to  him 
again,  remorseful  for  the  pain  she  had  caused, 
grateful  for  his  unwavering  loyalty;  and,  telling 
himself  these  things,  he  was  almost  persuaded 
that  it  would  do  him  more  good  than  harm  if 
Virginia  did  go  to  Noumea.  But  he  was  never 
wholly  persuaded.  A  strange  fear  knocked 
at  his  heart,  a  fear  that  had  no  name.  He  never 
quite  saw  its  face.  Like  a  haunting  ghost,  it  was 
always  behind  him,  and  he  could  hear  the  swish 
of  its  garments,  the  stealthy  sound  of  its  foot- 
falls; but  when  he  turned  upon  it  the  thing  was 
gone,  leaving  only  the  impression  of  a  black 
shadow  with  a  veiled  face  inexpressibly  awful. 

Loria  could  not  sleep  by  night,  and  by  day  he 
was  restless.  He  began  to  dread  an  illness,  and 
was  constantly  troubled  with  headache,  which 
gave  him  an  excuse  for  believing  that  the  vague, 
nervous  apprehension  he  suffered  was  largely  the 
result  of  physical  causes. 

What  else,  indeed,  could  it  be.^  He  had 
absolutely  nothing  to  fear.     Of  this  he  was  still 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  145 

continually  reminding  himself,  when  another 
telegram  came  from  Lady  Gardiner,  dated 
Sydney.  "Leaving  here  to-morrow,"  she  said. 
"Destination  unknown." 


The  Bella  Cuba  was  ten  days  out  from  Sydney 
Heads.  Her  passengers  rose  early,  for  in  the 
morning  it  was  good  to  be  alive.  Virginia, 
fresh  from  her  cold,  salt  bath,  came  on  deck, 
and  saw  the  Countess  de  Mattos  there,  with 
George  Trent.  Far  away  lay  a  strip  of  land,  turn- 
ing slowly  from  violet  to  emerald  as  the  yacht 
steamed  nearer.  Virginia  saw  it  and  flushed.  She 
knew  what  it  must  be,  and  quickly  she  glanced  at 
George,  with  an  eager  question  in  her  eyes. 

It  was  tacitly  understood  that  the  task  of 
informing  the  Countess  de  Mattos  what  her 
destination  was  to  be  must  be  left  to  Virginia; 
she  coveted  it,  while  the  two  men  did  not.  Still, 
the  Portuguese  might  have  guessed,  on  seeing 
that  strip  of  violet;  or  George  might  inadvert- 
ently have  given  her  a  clue,  and  she  would  be  on 
her  guard. 


146       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

But  George's  blue  eyes  met  his  sister's;  and 
with  the  faintest  shake  of  his  head  he  contrived 
to  convey  to  her  the  intelligence  that  the  secret 
still  remained  a  secret. 

Virginia's  heart  was  beating  fast  as  she  joined 
her  brother  and  the  Countess,  and  her  hand  was 
not  quite  steady  as  she  offered  her  field-glass  to 
the  beautiful  Portuguese,  who  had  long  ago 
begged  the  two  ladies  on  board  to  call  her 
*'Manuela." 

"What  a  large  island!"  exclaimed  the 
Countess.  "And  we  seem  to  be  making  for  it. 
What  can  it  be.^  Mr.  Trent  says  perhaps  it  is 
a  mirage.  But  I  think  that  is  his  joke.  He  likes 
teasing." 

"I  think,"  replied  Virginia  calmly,  though  her 
eyes  were  on  the  face  of  Manuela,  "that  we 
must  be  coming  in  sight  of  New  Caledonia." 

As  she  gave  this  answer,  Roger  Broom  came 
up  the  companion-way,  and  heard  the  last 
words,  which  rang  out  distinctly.  Instantly  he 
knew  that  the  moment  for  which  Virginia  had 
been  waiting  was  at  hand,  and  he,  too,  watched 
the  Countess. 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  147 

She  had  taken  Virginia's  field-glass,  and  was 
gazing  through  it  at  the  far-off  land  which  with 
each  moment  seemed  to  grow  more  distinct. 
Only  the  delicate,  aquiline  profile  could  be  seen 
by  the  eager  eyes  that  looked  for  a  sign  of 
weakness.  She  did  not  speak  at  first,  but  a 
visible  shiver  ran  through  her  body.  The  field- 
glass  came  down  rather  suddenly,  and  her  fingers 
gripped  it  tightly  as  they  rested  on  the  rail. 
But  she  did  not  turn  her  face,  and  continued 
gazing  landward  as  at  last  she  echoed  the  words, 
"New  Caledonia!" 

"Is  not  that  a  prison  for  the  French  Jorcats?'* 
she  slowly  asked. 

Tacitly,  the  two  men  left  the  answer  to  Vir- 
ginia. "Yes,"  said  the  girl.  "Noumea  is  a 
penal  settlement.  They  say  it  is  very  interesting 
to  see.  We  thought  that  we  might  stop  for  a 
day  or  two  in  the  harbour  there." 

This  time  the  Countess  turned.  "Oh,  but 
that  would  be  terrible!"  she  exclaimed.  "We 
—  they  might  rob  and  murder  us,  these  con- 
victs. You  did  not  say  that  we  were  coming 
to  Noumea." 


148       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"It  was  to  be  one  of  our  surprises,"  replied 
Virginia.     "I  thought  that  you  would  like  it." 

"No,  no!"  ejaculated  Manuela.  "I  do  not 
like  it  at  all.  I  have  a  horror  of  such  places  and 
such  people.  This  is  a  pleasure  trip,  is  it  not  ? 
There  is  no  pleasure  in  visiting  a  prison-land. 
Dear  Virginia,  dear  Mr.  Trent  and  Sir  Roger, 
do  let  us  turn  our  faces  another  way  and  go 
somewhere  else." 

Virginia  had  not  lost  a  single  changing  shade 
of  expression  on  the  Countess  de  Mattos's  darkly 
beautiful  face;  but  if  she  had  been  questioned, 
she  would  have  had  to  confess  that  she  was 
disappointed  in  the  great  effect  toward  which 
she  had  so  long  been  working  up.  She  had  half 
expected  to  see  this  wicked  woman  who,  in  some 
deadly  and  mysterious  way,  had  plotted  to 
destroy  Maxime  Dalahaide,  turn  livid  under 
the  brown  stain  which  she  (Virginia)  suspected, 
gasp,  totter,  and  perhaps  fall  fainting  when  she 
heard  those  fatal  names  —  "New  Caledonia, 
Noumea."  But  Manuela  gave  none  of  these 
evidences  of  distress.  If  she  paled,  the  dusky 
stain  in  whose  existence  Virginia  so  tenaciously 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  149 

believed  hid  the  sign  of  her  emotion.  It  allowed 
a  deep  flush  to  be  seen;  even  Virginia  could  not 
deny  that,  but  pallor  was  difficult  to  trace  where 
complexion  and  even  lips  were  tinted  brown 
and  red;  and  the  slight  quivering  of  the  body, 
the  dropping  of  the  hand  with  the  field-glass, 
were  not  so  marked  that  they  might  not  be  due 
to  an  ordinary,  disagreeable  surprise. 

"I'm  sorry  you  feel  so  about  the  place,"  said 
Virginia.  "That's  the  worst  of  planning  sur- 
prises, isn't  it.!^  One  can't  always  be  sure  of 
bringing  off  a  success.  Now,  I'm  afraid  we 
must  make  the  best  of  it,  for  as  we  arranged  to 
come  here,  our  stores  won't  last  long  enough  to 
avoid  New  Caledonia  and  go  farther.  We 
must  buy  butter  and  milk  and  vegetables,  and 
chickens  and  lots  of  things,  to  say  nothing  of 
coaling.  But  you  needn't  see  anything  of  the 
prison  and  the  prisoners  unless  you  like.  The 
harbour  is  said  to  be  glorious,  and  you  can  stop 
on  board  and  read  novels,  while  the  rest  of  us  do 
our  sight-seeing,  which  won't  take  us  very  long." 

"Sight-seeing  in  a  prison!"  exclaimed  the 
Countess.     "You  English  and  Americans  are 


150       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

strange.  We  Latins,  we  never  give  ourselves 
pain  that  can  be  avoided.  There  is  enough  that 
is  unpleasant  in  life  without  that.  Ugh!  I 
would  rather  do  without  butter  and  milk  than 
buy  it  of  convicts,  who  may  poison  us  in  sheer 
spite  because  we  are  more  fortunate  than  they. 
Could  we  not  turn  round,  and  get  back  to  Sydney 
without  starving .?  * ' 

"No,  it  couldn't  be  managed,"  said  Virginia. 

Manuela  turned  pleading  eyes  upon  Roger 
and  George.  They  were  men;  they  knew  more 
about  such  things  than  women;  besides  she 
could  usually  make  men  do  what  she  wished. 
But  for  once  she  found  creatures  of  the  opposite 
sex  who  were  not  to  be  melted  by  her  pleading. 
They  agreed  with  Virginia  that  it  was  impossible 
now  to  avoid  New  Caledonia. 

"And  how  long  shall  we  stay.?"  plaintively 
inquired  the  Countess,  when  she  had  been 
obliged  to  resign  herself  to  the  inevitable,  which, 
to  her  credit,  she  did  with  a  very  pretty  grace. 
"Shall  we  leave  again  to-night,  with  our  pois- 
oned food?" 

"Wait  till  you  have  seen  the  rocks   in  the 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  151 

harbour,"  answered  George.  "If  they're  as 
bad  as  the  book  says,  they  must  be  something 
to  see.  Anyhow,  it's  only  possible  to  get  in  or 
out  between  sunrise  and  sunset.  I'm  afraid, 
Countess,  you'll  have  to  put  up  with  it  till 
to-morrow." 

"Oh!"  Manuela  sighed  a  long  sigh.  She 
asked  no  more  questions,  she  made  no  more 
protests.  She  turned  her  back  upon  New  Cale- 
donia, and  appeared  to  dismiss  the  land  of  lost 
souls  from  her  mind. 

"  Well,"  said  Roger,  when  he  and  Virginia  had 
walked  away,  leaving  the  Countess  and  George 
Trent  to  the  flirtation  which  was  so  embittering 
the  daily  life  of  Lady  Gardiner.  "Well,  was  I 
right  or  wrong  about  this  woman.?" 

"  Wrong,"  firmly  answered  Virginia. 

"You  say  that  still,  after  the  way  she  took  your 
grand  coup?  But  this  is  only  because  you  hate 
giving  up,  beaten." 

"I'm  not  beaten  yet,"  the  girl  returned 
doggedly.  "I  hoped  for  something  different  — 
yes,  I  admit  that.  But  her  game  means  as 
much  to  her  as  ours  does  to  us.     She's  playing 


152       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

it  for  all  it's  worth.  If  she  weren't  such  a 
wretch,  I  should  have  admired  her  pluck.  How 
she  held  her  ground !  Taken  by  surprise  as  she 
was,  almost  her  first  thought  was  whether  we 
had  purposely  caught  her  in  this  trap,  or  whether 
she  had  only  an  avenging  fate  to  thank  for  such 
a  terrible  and  startling  coincidence.  I  saw  that, 
at  least,  in  her  eyes  and  her  face,  Roger,  though 
I  didn't  see  all  I  had  been  looking  for.  Think 
what  she  must  have  been  feeling!  She  helped 
to  send  an  innocent  man  who  had  loved  and 
trusted  her  into  this  exile,  worse  than  death. 
She  thought  herself  free  from  him  forever, 
because  he  was  at  the  other  end  of  the  world, 
dead-alive,  in  the  grave  where  she  buried  him. 
Suddenly  she  finds  herself  looking  at  that  grave, 
unable  to  escape.  At  any  moment  it  may  open, 
and  the  dead  appear  to  accuse  her.  What  a 
situation!" 

"What  an  imagination!"  exclaimed  Roger. 
"Dear  child,  you  have  let  it  carry  you  away  as 
far  from  the  truth  as  you've  carried  this  woman 
from  her  home  —  this  woman  whom  you've 
so  audaciously  kidnapped." 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  153 

"Wait,"  said  Virginia,  her  voice  trembling. 
"  I  haven't  done  with  her.  This  is  only  the  first 
turn  of  the  thumbscrew.  She  doesn't  dream 
yet  of  the  ordeal  she'll  have  to  go  through." 

"May  have  to  go  through,"  quietly  amended 
Roger  Broom. 

"  You  mean  —  oh,  Roger,  don't  you  think 
we'll  succeed  in  what  we've  come  for  so  far,  so 
very  iar?" 

Virginia,  with  tears  sparkling  in  uplifted  eyes, 
was  irresistible. 

"I  hope  it,  dear,"  the  man  who  loved  and 
wanted  her  said,  gravely.  "I  never  thought  it, 
you  know.  But  the  way  hasn't  seemed  far  to 
me,  because  I  have  been  with  you  and  the 
time  will  not  have  been  wasted  for  me  if  we  fail, 
because  it  has  kept  me  by  your  side.  I  shall 
think,  *  I  have  done  what  I  could,  and  it  has 
pleased  Virginia.'  " 

"It  has  made  Virginia  grateful  for  all  her  life 
long,"  said  the  girl  softly,  "and  whatever  hap- 
pens she  will  never  forget.  You  have  done  so 
much  already!  Disapproving  my  plan,  still 
you  loyally  did  all  you  could  to  forward  it.     You 


154       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

used  your  influence  to  get  us  the  one  chance  here, 
without  which  we  could  hope  to  do  nothing. 
You  wrote  to  the  French  Ambassador  in  London, 
the  English  Ambassador  in  France,  and  finally, 
when  our  interests  were  so  twisted  up  in  masses 
of  official  red-tape  that  it  seemed  they  could 
never  get  disentangled,  you  ran  on  to  Paris 
yourself  to  call  on  the  Minister  of  the  Colonies. 
If  it  had  not  been  for  the  permit  you  got  from 
him,  we  might  as  well  have  given  up  coming 
here,  for  all  the  prison  doors  would  have  been 
shut  to  us.  Now,  through  him,  and  through 
you,  they  will  be  open,  and  our  first  step  is  clear. 
All  this  made  me  feel  hopeful,  when  we  were 
far  away;  I  felt  sure  that  we  should  succeed. 
But  now  that  we  have  come  these  thousands 
of  miles  in  our  poor  little  boat ;  now  that  we  have 
arrived  at  the  end  of  the  world  and  our  real 
work  is  still  before  us,  my  heart  suddenly  sinks 
down — down.  I'm  frightened — I'm  almost  ill: 
and  your  words  and  your  face  are  so  grave, 
Roger!  Your  very  tenderness  and  kindness 
make  it  worse,  for  somehow,  it's  as  if  you 
thought  there  might  be  a  good-bye.     It  makes 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  155 

me  realize  that,  after  all,  the  greatest  danger 
is  to  be  run  by  you  and  George.  You  have 
both  come  for  my  sake ;  and  —  you  are  going 
to  risk  your  lives." 

"Risk  your  lives!"  repeated  a  voice;  and 
turning  quickly,  Virginia  and  her  cousin  saw 
Lady  Gardiner,  who  had  lately  developed  a 
rather  stealthy  way  of  creeping  noiselessly 
behind  her  friends. 

Virginia's  mood  was  not  one  to  promote 
presence  of  mind.  She  was  speechless;  but 
Roger  stepped  in  to  the  breach. 

"  We  were  talking  of  a  swim  that  George  and  I 
propose  to  have  in  these  pleasant  waters,"  he 
remarked.  "There  are  supposed  to  be  a  good 
many  sharks  about,  and  Virginia  is  advising 
prudence." 

"Oh!"  breathed  Lady  Gardiner.  "She  is 
quite  right.  We  will  all  join  our  persuasions  to 
hers.  But  the  Countess  tells  me  this  island  is 
actually  New  Caledonia,  the  French  penal 
settlement.  Isn't  that  where  your  friend  Miss 
Dalahaide's  brother  is  imprisoned .?" 

"I  believe  so,"  said  Virginia. 


ISe       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"How  exciting!  And  how  well  you've  kept 
the  secret  of  this  expedition!  Is  there  any 
chance  of  our  coming  across  the  interesting 
murderer  ?  " 

"Don't  call  him  that!"  Virginia  cried  hotly. 
"  How  do  you  suppose  that  it  would  be  possible 
for  us  to  come  across  him  ?  Do  tourists  who 
go  to  Portland  *come  across'  prisoners  who 
have  been  convicted  of  murder  —  w  hether  inno- 
cent or  not?  Noumea  isn't  the  only  port  we 
have  visited.  It  is  on  our  way.  We  shall  stop 
a  day  or  two,  and  then  —  we  shall  go  on  some- 
where else." 

"Quite  so,"  drily  returned  Lady  Gardiner. 

It  was  noon  when  they  slowly  steamed  into 
the  beautiful  harbour  of  Noumea,  and  before 
them  lay  the  crime-cursed  land,  fair  with  the 
fatal  fairness  of  deadly  nightshade. 

There,  for  nearly  five  years,  Maxime  Dala- 
haide  had  not  lived,  but  existed.  To  give  him 
back  to  life,  she  had  come  thousands  of  miles 
and  spent  more  than  twenty  thousand  pounds. 
What  would  they  find  that  he  had  become,  if 
those   precious   documents   which   Roger   had 


THE  END  OF  THE  WORLD  167 

obtained  proved  as  potent  as  they  hoped? 
Would  his  brain  and  heart  have  been  strong 
enough  to  bear  the  hopeless  agony,  the  shame, 
the  hideous  associations  of  those  years  which 
to  him  must  have  seemed  a  century  of  despair; 
or  would  he  have  fallen  under  the  burden  ? 

Virginia  shivered  as  if  with  cold,  as  she 
fancied  a  hard,  official  voice  announcing  that 
Number  So-and-So  was  dead. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   GATES  OPEN 

THE  Countess  de  Mattos  had  a  headache 
which  was  so  severe,  she  announced, 
that  it  would  prevent  her  from  landing;  besides, 
she  was  not  interested  in  convicts.  Lady  Gar- 
diner, on  the  contrary,  was  greatly  interested. 
Never  had  she  been  more  alert;  never  had  her 
black  eyes  been  so  keen.  She  wanted  to  go 
everywhere;  she  wanted  to  see  everything. 
She  thought  Noumea  a  charming  place;  she 
had  "really  no  sympathy  for  the  prisoners." 
One  might  commit  a  crime  solely  for  the  pleasure 
of  being  sent  here. 

The  party  of  five  went  ashore,  and  Kate's 
principal  preoccupation  seemed  to  be  to  keep 
as  close  to  Virginia  as  possible.  She  had  the 
air  of  expecting  some  choice  excitement,  which 
she  might  miss  if  the  girl  were  lost  sight  of  for 
a  moment.     But  nothing  in  the  manner  of  Vir- 

158 


THE  GATES  OPEN  159 

ginia  or  her  brother  or  cousin  suggested  that 
they  had  come  to  this  strange  spot  "at  the  end 
of  the  world"  with  any  object  save  that  of 
amusement.  They  behaved  just  as  they  had 
behaved  at  Sydney,  or  any  other  port  at  which 
they  had  called.  All  five  strolled  up,  under  a 
blaze  of  tropical  sunshine,  to  the  Place  des 
Cocotiers,  and  sitting  on  the  shaded  verandah 
of  the  Hotel  de  France,  sipped  a  cooling  drink 
concocted  of  oranges,  lemons  and  pineapple. 
Then  they  sauntered  on  again,  much  observed 
by  a  few  weary-looking  persons  they  met, 
through  broad  streets,  with  long,  low,  white 
houses. 

Dr.  Grayle  kept  beside  Lady  Gardiner  now, 
and  they  walked  in  front,  as  the  former  was 
supposed  to  have  studied  the  subject  of  the 
penal  settlement  so  thoroughly  as  to  be  qualified 
for  guide. 

Kate  glanced  over  her  shoulder  often;  but 
Dr.  Grayle  succeeded  in  genuinely  interesting 
her  in  a  story  of  an  atrocious  criminal  who 
had  been  expatriated  to  Noumea  some  years 
before.     When  she  looked  hurriedly  back,  osten- 


160       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

sibly  to  ask  Roger  Broom  if  he  had  ever  heard 
the  spicy  narrative,  the  three  had  disappeared. 

Lady  Gardiner  flushed  in  anger  with  them 
for  their  duplicity,  with  herself  for  her  careless- 
ness in  letting  them  slip  away.  "Dear  me! 
what  has  become  of  the  others  .^"  she  exclaimed. 
"We  must  turn  back  and  find  them." 

Dr.  Grayle  took  the  defection  calmly  —  so 
calmly  that  Kate  leaped  to  the  conviction  that 
he  was  in  the  plot  against  her.  The  others 
wanted  to  go  somewhere  or  do  something 
without  her,  and  this  little  brown-faced,  sharp- 
eyed  man  had  been  told  off  as  a  kind  of  decoy 
duck.  But  she  would  circumvent  them  yet. 
She  would  know  what  was  going  on. 

"They  have  probably  gone  to  buy  some  bit 
of  carving  or  other  souvenirs  of  convict  make," 
said  the  doctor.  "Certainly  we'll  turn  back  if 
you  like." 

They  did  turn  back,  and  wandered  about  in 
all  the  (according  to  Dr.  Grayle)  most  likely 
places  to  find  the  lost  ones,  but  in  vain.  Kate 
could  have  burst  into  tears  of  rage.  She  was 
hot,  tired,  dusty,  and  —  worst  of  all  — ^thwarted. 


THE  GATES  OPEN  161 

It  was  hateful  to  feel  herself  helpless  in  the  plot- 
ters' hands,  being  made  to  dance  when  they 
pulled  the  strings,  and  to  know  that  this  "horrid 
little  brown  man"  was  secretly  laughing  at  her 
behind  his  polite  air  of  concern.  Yet  she  was 
helpless,  and  had  to  acknowledge  it.  If  she 
left  the  doctor  and  went  off  on  an  expedition 
of  independent  exploration  she  would  not  know 
which  way  to  go,  and  might  get  into  trouble. 
But  at  last  she  could  no  longer  bear  her  wrongs 
in  silence;  and,  after  all,  she  had  nothing  to 
gain  by  being  nice  to  Dr.  Grayle. 

"I  suppose  you  think,"  she  burst  out  angrily, 
"that  you  are  making  a  fool  of  me,  and  that  I 
don't  know  it.  But  I'm  not  as  simple  as  you 
seem  to  believe.  I'm  perfectly  well  aware  that 
there's  a  mystery  going  on,  and  that  all  these 
elaborate  precautions  are  to  keep  me  out  of  it." 

Dr.  Grayle  raised  his  eyebrows.  *'Then  you 
are  much  more  enlightened  than  I  am,"  he 
returned  mildly.  "I'm  really  quite  at  loss  to 
know  what  you  mean.  Lady  Gardiner." 

"In  plain  words,  I  mean  that  you  are  walk- 
ing me  off  my  feet  to  cover  the  others'  escape. 


162       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

You  know  perfectly  well  where  they  are,  but 
they've  ordered  you  to  keep  out  of  the  way, 
and  you  are  doing  as  you're  told,  like  a  nice, 
obedient  little  man.  I  never  was  so  abominably 
treated  in  my  life." 

**I  can't  see,  even  if  Miss  Beverly  and  her  two 
relations  choose  to  go  off  for  a  little  private 
sight-seeing  on  their  own  account,  that  either 
you  or  I  have  anything  to  complain  of,"  said  the 
doctor.  "We  are  outsiders,  and  are  both  very 
well  paid  for  our  services.  My  opinion  is  that 
few  persons  in  our  position  receive  as  much 
consideration  from  their  employers  as  we  do." 

Kate  was  so  furious  at  this  snub  (which 
found  a  vital  spot)  that  she  was  literally  speech- 
less for  a  moment.  She  would  have  liked  to 
strike  the  impertinent  little  wretch  who  dared 
put  her  on  a  level  with  himself;  but  she  could 
hardly  do  that,  even  in  Noumea.  When  the 
wave  of  angry  blood  flowed  back  from  her  brain, 
and  she  recovered  presence  of  mind,  she  turned 
abruptly  and  walked  away  from  the  doctor. 
But  he  was  at  her  side  again  almost  immediately, 
keeping  up  with  her  without  any  appearance 


THE  GATES  OPEN  163 

of  haste,  though  she  quickened  her  pace  in  spite 
of  fatigue,  looking  as  cool,  as  serene,  as  if  he 
had  been  taking  an  afternoon  stroll  in  Bond 
Street.  Evidently  he  had  torn  a  leaf  out  of 
Roger  Broom's  book;  and  Kate  recalled  the 
forgotten  fact  that  it  was  Roger  who  had  recom- 
mended him  to  Virginia's  notice. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,"  he  said,  "but  you  are 
now  going  toward  that  part  of  the  town  which 
was  burnt  down  at  the  time  of  the  plague  here, 
about  three  years  ago.  It  is  leading  you  rather 
out  of  the  way  of  the  hotel,  where  we  were  all  to 
meet  for  luncheon;  but  perhaps  you  have  a 
curiosity  to  see  it  ?  I  have  studied  a  map  of  the 
place,  and  if  you  like  can  point  out " 

*'I  do  not  like!"  Lady  Gardiner  cut  in  sharply. 
"I  wish  to  send  a  cablegram." 

"Unfortunately,  that  is  impossible." 

"  What!  One  can't  telegraph  from  this  loath- 
some place  .'^" 

"I  thought  you  were  so  charmed  with  it.^ 
One  cannot  telegraph  to-day." 

"Why  not  to-day.^  Is  it  a  holiday  for  the 
operators  .f^" 


164       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOVvS 

"So  far  as  we  are  concerned." 

"Ah!  I  see  what  you  mean  now.  You 
intend  to  prevent  my  communicating  with  my 
friends!     But  this  is  too  much.     I  will  do  so.'* 

"I  fancied  you  were  attached  to  Miss  Beverly." 

"What  has  that  to  do  with  it.?" 

"A  good  deal.  We  are  Miss  Beverly's  guests 
—  or  her  servants,  whichever  you  please.  In 
either  case,  we  surely  owe  her  fealty.  I  have 
been  informed  that  she  does  not  wish  to  have  any 
communication  made  with  the  outside  world, 
from  Noumea." 

"/  was  not  informed  of  this  mandate." 

"I  dare  say  she  thought  that  you  would  be 
guided  by  my  counsel." 

"Counsel!  A  strange  word  for  your  tyranny. 
At  least,  I  suppose,  there  are  no  orders  against 
returning  to  the  hotel.'*" 

"None.     So  long  as  we  are  discreet." 

"And  in  what  does  your  idea  of  discretion 
consist,  pray?" 

"Keeping  ourselves  to  ourselves.  They  are 
rather  suspicious  folk  in  New  Caledonia.  Fevv 
tourists  come  this  way.     Probably  we  are  the 


THE  GATES  OPEN  165 

first  people  who  have  landed  here  not  on  busi- 
ness for  many  a  long  year." 

*'I  am  not  at  all  sure  that  we  haven't  come  on 
business  —  very  particular  business." 

"  I  wouldn't  make  that  remark  before  anybody 
else,  if  I  were  you.  You  might  —  get  into 
trouble." 

As  Dr.  Grayle  said  this  he  looked  steadily  at 
Lady  Gardiner.  Their  eyes  met,  and  so  pecu- 
liarly cold  and  menacing  was  the  expression  of 
his  that  she  felt  unpleasantly  chilled,  and  even 
subdued.  Those  steady  eyes  so  underscored  his 
words  with  sinister  meaning,  that  Kate  dared  not 
ask  whether  the  "trouble"  to  which  he  sug- 
gestively referred  would  come  to  her  through 
him  or  the  inhabitants  of  Noumea.  She  thought 
that  he  looked  capable  of  reducing  her  to  help- 
lessness by  violence,  if  she  showed  signs  of 
resisting  his  will,  and  she  relapsed  into  silence. 
But  she  had  not  given  up  the  hope  of  cabling  to 
Loria.     She  resolved  to  watch  her  chance. 

They  walked  back  to  the  Hotel  de  France,  but 
the  others  had  not  returned,  though  the  time 
fixed  was  long  past.     Kate  was  so  hungry  and 


166       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

weary  that  again  she  could  have  wept,  and  was 
secretly  glad  when  Dr.  Grayle  ordered  luncheon 
for  two,  though  the  prospect  of  a  meal  tete-a-tete 
was  not  enjoyable.  She  complained,  however, 
of  being  too  warm  and  dusty  to  eat,  unless  she 
could  refresh  herself  by  splashing  a  little  in 
cold  water,  and  she  had  to  look  down  to  hide 
the  light  which  flashed  into  her  eyes  when  Grayle 
consented  without  protest  to  her  taking  a  room, 
and  re-making  her  toilet  before  lunch. 

"Now  I  shall  get  off  that  cable,"  she  said  to 
herself.  Hardly  had  she  entered  the  bare, 
poorly  furnished  bedroom  when  she  rang,  and 
stood  waiting  eagerly  for  a  servant  to  answer 
the  summons.  Presently  came  the  expected 
knock.  She  flew  to  open  the  door,  and  —  there 
stood  the  little  doctor,  behind  him  approaching  a 
maid,  probably  an  ex-convict. 

"You  rang,  Lady  Gardiner,"  said  Dr.  Grayle, 
"to  ask  for  a  telegraph  form,  just  as  you  might 
in  a  civilized  place,  didn't  you  ?  But  this  isn't 
a  civilized  place,  and  the  methods  are  not  all 
civilized.  Now,  here  is  the  servant  you  rang  for. 
If  you  persist  in  carrying  out  your  intention  I 


THE  GATES  OPEN  167 

shall  lock  you  in  this  room,  take  the  key,  and  tell 
the  landlord  that  you  are  a  harmless  lunatic, 
under  my  medical  supervision.  I  think  I  shall 
not  in  that  case  lack  for  assistance  in  keeping  you 
within  bounds." 

Kate  glared  at  him,  panting,  for  a  moment. 
Then,  controlling  her  voice,  she  asked  the 
servant  in  French  for  some  hot  water.  Having 
done  this,  she  slammed  the  door  in  the  little 
man's  face,  which  was  the  only  satisfaction  she 
got  out  of  the  incident.  She  was  inclined  to 
remain  sulking  in  the  bedroom,  but  though  the 
spirit  was  willing  the  flesh  was  weak,  and  the 
pangs  of  hunger  drove  her  forth.  Dr.  Grayle 
was  awaiting  her  in  the  corridor,  a  watchdog, 
patient  and  placid. 


The  missing  three  did  no  more  aimless 
sauntering  after  they  had  slipped  round  a  comer 
and  eluded  Kate  Gardiner's  curious  eyes.  Had 
their  business  not  been  of  life-and-death  impor- 
tance, they  would  have  felt  like  children  escaped 
from  school;  since  the  least  imprudence  might 


168       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

lose  them  the  stake  for  which  they  played,  and 
Kate's  presence  had  been  a  check  and  cause  of 
delay.  Fortunately,  it  was  not  yet  the  hour  of 
dejeuner,  even  in  Noumea,  and  they  made  up 
for  lost  time  by  hastening  to  the  Governor's 
offices,  which  were  in  a  white-painted,  two-story 
building  of  wood,  with  a  verandah  facing  the 
almost  deserted  street. 

It  was  Sir  Roger  Broom  who  had  used  his 
influence  in  obtaining  a  special  letter  from  the 
Minister  of  Colonies  to  the  Governor  of  New 
Caledonia,  and  he  now  sent  it  in  with  his  card, 
and  those  of  his  friends,  by  a  clerk.  For  a  few 
moments  they  waited,  soldiers  in  gay  uniforms, 
gendarmes  and  convict  messengers  passing  in 
and  out  on  various  errands,  all  gazing  with 
surprised,  if  furtive,  interest  at  the  extraor- 
dinarily beautiful  girl  in  white.  Presently  the 
Governor  was  ready  to  receive  his  guests,  and 
his  turn  came  to  be  astonished  by  Virginia. 
She  was  the  first  lady  who  had  ever  come  to 
Noumea,  he  said,  on  a  journey  of  pleasure. 
Ah,  the  American  young  ladies,  they  were 
wonderful,  amazing!     He  asked  a  few  questions 


THE  GATES  OPEN  169 

about  the  yacht,  the  trip  they  had  had,  and  his 
old  friend  the  Minister  of  Colonies,  then  counter- 
signed the  credentials  for  the  party,  and  dashed 
off  a  letter  to  the  Director  of  the  Penitentiary 
Administration . 

It  was  upon  the  latter  oflScial  that  everything 
depended.  So  far  all  was  satisfactory;  but  if 
the  Director  (who  was  supreme  in  authority 
over  the  prison,  not  answerable  even  to  the 
Governor)  chose  to  be  ungracious,  they  might  go 
back  whence  they  had  come  without  even 
attempting  that  bold  stroke  in  the  hope  of  which 
they  had  paid  this  visit.  They  had  dared, 
however,  show  no  signs  of  their  consuming 
anxiety.  With  smiling  thanks  they  bade  good- 
bye to  the  Governor  and  went  on,  in  the  fitful 
silence  of  suspense,  to  the  Direction. 

Again  the  letters  and  cards  were  borne  away 
by  a  clerk.  There  was  more  waiting;  and  when 
they  were  ushered  into  a  large,  cool,  dusky 
room,  strangely  still  behind  its  heavy  double 
doors,  Virginia  was  glad  of  the  gloom,  lest  her 
pallor  should  excite  suspicion. 

Afterward  Roger  and  George  said   to   each 


170       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

other  that  if  it  had  not  been  for  Virginia  they 
believed  the  Director  would  have  politely,  but 
firmly,  refused  to  grant  the  special  privileges 
they  craved.  Others  had  received  ordinary 
permits  to  "view"  the  penitentiary  establish- 
ment, yet  very  few,  indeed  (save  those  who  went 
because  they  must),  had  been  suffered  by  the 
authorities  to  pass  the  prison  gates.  But  what 
Frenchman  could  refuse  any  favour  in  his  power 
to  the  all-conquering  Virginia.^  The  Director 
would  have  been  well  within  his  rights,  and  could 
not  have  been  accused  of  discourtesy,  if  he 
had  allowed  a  certain  short,  concise  sentence  at 
the  left-hand  corner  of  the  oflScial  sheet  of  paper 
which  he  signed,  to  remain.  But  instead  he 
scratched  it  out  with  two  quick  strokes  of  the 
pen;  and  the  doors  of  the  prison  and  its  cells 
were  practically  thrown  open. 

He,  too,  asked  questions,  and  seemed  wist- 
fully loth  to  part  with  these  interesting  visitors 
from  a  far-away  world,  whose  echoes  he  seldom 
heard.  He  smiled  indulgently  when  Virginia 
fluently  told  the  story  prepared  beforehand: 
the  book  she  and  her  brother  had  been  com- 


THE  GATES  OPEN  171 

missioned  to  write  by  a  prominent  American 
publishing  firm;  how  it  was  to  be  all  about  this 
yachting  trip,  with  Noumea  as  the  piece  de 
resistance  of  the  story.  They  expected,  George 
Trent  chimed  in  by  saying,  to  stop  on  board 
their  yacht  in  the  harbour  for  a  day  or  two 
perhaps,  but  (and  he  made  the  most  of  his 
engaging  Southern  accent)  what  they  particu- 
larly wanted  was  to  "do"  the  He  Nou,  which 
all  the  books  said  was  so  "mighty"  interesting. 

The  Director  obligingly  scrawled  a  letter  to 
the  Commandant  of  the  prison  in  New  Cale- 
donia, explained  to  his  guests  what  they  must 
do,  and  cordially  invited  them  to  lunch  with  him. 
The  thought  of  eating  was  repulsive  to  Virginia; 
but  Roger  telegraphed  her  a  warning  look,  and 
she  knew  that  she  must  accept.  It  would  not  be 
wise  to  let  it  be  seen  that  they  were  in  a  hurry; 
they  were  eccentric  pleasure-seekers,  sea-tourists ; 
to  be  in  haste  was  to  throw  aside  disguise. 

After  dejeuner,  which  seemed  interminable, 
they  were  allowed  to  depart.  So  to  a  group  of 
white,  gray-roofed  buildings  set  in  brilliant  little 
squares  of  garden  —  the  offices  of  the  executive 


172       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

police.  Passing  on,  they  reached  a  small  wooden 
quay,  belonging  to  the  penitential  administration. 
Men  in  ugly  gray  clothing,  their  faces  shaded 
with  broad,  ribbonless  straw  hats,  were  working 
at  loading  a  boat  with  large  boxes,  which  they 
carried  to  the  quay  from  a  truck  on  a  miniature 
local  railway  line.  These  men  were  directed  in 
their  labour  by  other  men  in  white ;  and  Virginia 
shivered  all  over,  for  this  was  her  first  sight  of  the 
convicts.  What  if  Maxime  Dalahaide  were  among 
these  forlorn  wretches  who  toiled  and  sweated 
in  the  blazing  sun,  with  no  encouragement  save 
the  rough  exhortations  of  the  white-clad  surveil- 
lants  with  revolvers  on  their  hips  ?  If  he  were 
here,  did  any  voice  whisper  to  him  of  hope  ? 

The  canot  for  the  He  Nou  was  to  start  almost 
immediately.  The  credentials  of  the  party  were 
examined  at  the  douanerie,  and  they  were  per- 
mitted to  go  on  board.  Twelve  convicts  were 
the  rowers.  They  sat  under  an  awning  which 
protected  them  as  well  as  the  passengers  from 
the  sun,  but  Virginia,  glancing  almost  fearfully 
at  their  faces,  saw  that  their  skins  were  tanned 
to  the  colour  of  mahogany  by  exposure.     Their 


THE  GATES  OPEN  173 

features  were,  without  one  exception,  marked 
with  the  indefinable  yet  not  -  to  -  be  -  mistaken 
stamp  of  criminality,  and  she  breathed  more 
freely  when  she  had  assured  herself  that  the 
man  they  sought  was  not  one  of  them. 

All  they  had  to  go  upon  was  the  vague  informa- 
tion derived  from  Madeleine  Dalahaide,  that  her 
brother  was  supposed  to  be  on  the  He  Nou.  The 
time  had  not  come  yet  to  ask  the  questions  that 
burnt  their  tongues;  but  it  was  coming  nearer 
now  with  each  wide  sweep  of  the  convicts'  oars. 

The  Director  had  been  thoughtful  enough  to 
telegraph  to  the  He  Nou  of  the  visitors'  arrival, 
and  as  the  canot  approached  the  quay  of  the 
strange  little  settlement,  an  oflScer  of  the  prison, 
who  had  the  appearance  of  a  superior  warder, 
stepped  forward,  touching  his  white  hat. 

Virginia  felt,  with  a  thickly  beating  heart,  that 
the  long  preface  was  finished,  the  first  chapter  of 
the  book  about  to  begin.  She  looked  at  this 
island  of  exile  and  pimishment  with  an  emotion 
that  was  not  curiosity,  but  which  could  be  classi- 
fied by  no  other  word.  The  He  Nou  was  not  to 
the  eye  the  terrible  place  of  which  she  had  so 


174       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

often  dreamt.  There  were  more  low,  white 
houses,  clustering  cosily  together  or  separated  by 
thick,  dark  trees,  and  there  were  shaded  streets 
and  more  blazing  flamboyant  flowers  making 
patches  of  red  in  the  deep  green.  But  beyond 
the  town  rose  a  hill,  and  there  the  great  prison 
buildings  stood  out  grimly  against  the  cloudless 
blue  of  the  tropical  sky. 

They  landed.  The  warder  begged  them  with 
French  politeness  to  give  themselves  the  trouble 
of  accompanying  him  to  the  quarters  of  the 
Commandant,  who  expected  their  visit. 

The  programme  of  conspiracy  was  all  planned ; 
each  one's  part  had  been  carefully  mapped  out, 
and  a  thousand  times  Virginia  had  gone  through 
the  ordeal  of  this  day  in  her  mind.  Yet  now  the 
beating  in  her  temples  confused  her  thoughts. 
She  was  afraid  that  she  should  forget,  that  she 
should  make  some  irretrievable  blunder,  and  that 
everything  would  be  ruined  by  her  fault.  But 
much  might  depend  now  upon  a  look  or  a  gesture, 
and  she  held  herself  in  a  vice  of  self-control, 
fearing  that  her  smile  on  greeting  the  courteous 
old  Commandant  was  suspiciously  forced,  her 


THE   GATES  OPEN  175 

voice  unnatural,  or  the  look  in  her  eyes  a 
betrayal  of  desperate  anxiety. 

But  the  gallant  Frenchman  saw  only  the  most 
entrancing  vision  of  a  girl  his  eyes  had  ever 
looked  upon.  Within  the  bounds  of  reason  — 
which  meant  in  honour  and  within  the  regula- 
tions of  the  establishment  —  he  would  have 
done  anything  to  win  one  of  those  distracting 
smiles  which  brought  into  play  two  little  round 
dimples.  He  ordered  his  own  carriage  to  take 
his  guests  to  the  grim  hill  behind  the  towTi;  he 
sat  by  Virginia  as  they  were  driven  up  the  white, 
winding  road;  and  when  at  last  the  convict 
coachman  drew  up  the  horses  at  a  great  door 
of  black  iron  in  the  blank  side  of  a  high  white 
wall,  it  was  he  who  helped  her  to  alight. 

"You  will  be  the  only  lady,  not  the  wife  or 
daughter  of  an  oflScial  of  the  place,  who  has  ever 
entered  at  this  gate,  mademoiselle,"  he  remarked 
as  the  key  of  the  surveillant  grated  in  the  lock. 

The  door  opened,  and  Virginia  passed  through, 
trembling,  the  Commandant  at  her  side.  They 
were  in  a  long,  oddly-shaped  courtyard.  "The 
place  of  execution,"  said  her  guide.     "In  the 


176       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

early  morning,  at  sunrise,  a  condemned  man  is 
brought  here  to  die  by  the  guillotine.  Through 
that  door  yonder  he  comes,  the  priest  walking  by 
his  side.  To-morrow  there  will  be  such  an 
execution.  But  I  suppose  you  would  scarcely 
care  to  see  that,  mademoiselle.?" 

**Oh,  no,  no!'*  exclaimed  Virginia,  shudder- 
ing. "  I  would  die  myself,  sooner.  What  has  he 
done  —  this  unfortunate  one  —  that  he  must 
suffer  death .?" 

"He  attempted  to  escape " 

"  What  —  you  kill  them  for  that,  if  —  they  are 
retaken  .?'* 

"No;  but  wait,  mademoiselle.  I  will  tell  you 
the  story.  It  may  be  of  use  as  an  anecdote  for 
the  book  you  will  write.  This  man  who  is  to  die 
to-morrow  morning,  and  who  will  not  know  that 
his  time  has  come  until  the  knock  at  the  door  of 
his  cell  when  the  hour  strikes  —  this  man  and 
another,  who  were  imprisoned  at  the  Isle  of 
Pines,  stole  a  small  open  fishing-boat,  and  with 
the  branch  of  a  tree  for  a  mast  and  a  shirt  for  a 
sail,  started  out  in  the  desperate  hope  of  eventu- 
ally reaching  Australia.   But  the  alarm  was  soon 


THE  GATES  OPEN  177 

given,  and  they  were  pursued  by  such  a  ca7iot  as 
that  in  which  you  came  here,  mademoiselle,  from 
Noumea.  One  of  the  fugitives  was  mad  enough 
to  jump  from  the  boat,  scarcely  knowing  what  he 
did.     In  a  moment  he  had  ceased  to  live." 

"He  was  shot.?" 

"Ah,  no,  mademoiselle.  The  waters  here  are 
literally  alive  with  sharks.  Bathing  even  near 
shore  is  dangerous.  A  little  farther  out  —  but 
I  will  say  no  more.     You  grow  pale." 

"  That  is  nothing.  And  the  other  man  — 
what  of  him.?" 

"  He  was  captured ;  but  he  is  a  young,  athletic 
fellow,  and  in  his  fury  at  being  retaken  he 
snatched  a  surveillant's  revolver  and  shot  him 
dead.  He  was  tried,  condemned  to  death,  and 
to-morrow  at  sunrise,  as  I  said,  will  expiate  his 
crime  and  folly." 

Virginia  was  very  white  now — almost  as  white 
as  the  frock  which  she  had  chosen  from  her  pret- 
tiest for  the  subjugation  of  these  men  in  authority. 

"What  is  the  man's  name.?"  she  ventured  to 
ask,  her  voice  sounding  strange  and  metallic 
in  her  own  ears,  her  lips  dry. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

NUMBER    1280 

THE  man  is  without  a  name,"  said  the 
Commandant.  *'He  is  a  number.  But 
once  he  was  known  as  Jean  Fourneau." 

Virginia  breathed  again.  "And  the  one  who 
was  with  him.?" 

"The  man  eaten  by  the  sharks.?  He  was 
called,  in  the  world,  Pierre  Duval." 

The  girl  could  hardly  restrain  a  murmur  of 
the  infinite  relief  she  felt.  But  she  dared  show 
no  emotion.  "I  suppose  you  have  all  sorts 
and  conditions  of  men  here.?"  she  asked. 

"From  the  highest  to  the  lowest." 

"Then  there  must  be  many  interesting  cases 
—  quite  romances.  Do  tell  us  something  about 
a  few  of  the  best." 

"That  is  diflScult.  There  are  many  cases 
which  might  interest  you;  but  they  would  shock 
you  as  well." 

J78 


NUMBER   liiJSO  179 

"I  would  trust  you  to  choose.  Have  you 
any  young  men  of  good  family  who,  perhaps, 
committed  their  crimes  for  love?'* 

The  Commandant  smiled.  "We  have  many 
such.  There  is  the  man  who  is  called  the  New 
Caledonian  Dreyfus  —  Chatelain  —  who  sold 
his  country  to  please  the  woman  he  loved.  He 
is  at  Ducos.  But  perhaps  the  most  notable 
example  of  the  type  you  desire  is  a  young  scion 
of  French  and  English  aristocracy  whom  we 
have  here,  on  the  He  Nou.  He  is  now 
known  as  Number  1280;  but  a  few  years 
ago  he  figured  brilliantly  in  the  great  world 
as  Maxime  Dalahaide.  You  may  have  heard 
of  him,  mademoiselle." 

The  words  rang  strangely  in  the  girl's  ears. 
She  "might  have  heard  of  him"!  But  her 
presence  of  mind  had  not  left  her,  as  a  few 
moments  ago  she  had  feared  it  might,  when  it 
should  be  needed  most. 

She  was  simply  carrying  out  her  part  of 
the  programme,  and  she  knew  that  Roger 
and  George  were  watching  her  from  behind 
half -closed  lids.     If  they  could  help  her  they 


180       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

would;  but  the  time  had  not  come  for  their 
help  yet. 

"I  left  America  only  a  year  ago,"  she 
answered,  "and  one  forgets  things  of  this  sort 
when  they  happen  very  far  away." 

"Naturally.  But  it  was  an  uncommon  case. 
Maxime  Dalahaide  was  condemned  to  death  for 
murdering  a  beautiful  young  actress,  with 
whom  he  was  in  love  —  jealousy  alleged  as  the 
cause.  However,  powerful  influence  saved  him 
from  death  and  sent  him  to  us.  I  do  not  know 
that  he  was  properly  thankful." 

Virginia  showed  a  little  decorous  interest, 
such  as  a  stranger  might  legitimately  take  in 
the  hero  of  such  a  tale.  "This  story  ought 
to  make  a  splendid  anecdote  for  our  book," 
she  exclaimed.     "Is  the  man  handsome.?" 

"You  might  not  think  so  if  you  saw  him  now. 
The  costume  of  the  forcat  is  not  becoming.  But 
he  is  still  quite  young,  between  twenty-eight 
and  nine.  You  can  see  his  portrait  if  you 
like,  mademoiselle,  at  the  Bureau  of  Anthro- 
pometry, where  each  convict's  photograph 
is    taken,    with    every    possible    view    of    his 


NUMBER   1280  181 

face,  when  he  first  becomes  an  inmate  of 
the  prison." 

"I  would  rather  see  the  man  himself,"  an- 
swered Virginia.  "If  you  would  only  let  my 
brother  and  me  have  an  interview  with  him; 
think  how  it  would  help  our  book!  Ah,  mon- 
sieur, that  would  be  kind.  I  should  never  forget 
your  goodness  in  giving  me  such  a  chance." 

The  gallant  Commandant  hesitated.  But 
—  the  permit  in  the  possession  of  these  three 
favoured  visitors  was  very  explicit.  They  were 
to  have  privileges  scarcely  ever  granted  before, 
and  he  had  therefore  the  best  of  excuses  for 
obliging  the  beautiful  American  girl. 

"Do  say  yes!"  persuasively  added  Virginia. 

**I  really  think  I  may  conscientiously  do  so," 
replied  the  old  Frenchman,  delighted  to  please 
the  most  radiant  being  he  had  seen  for  many 
a  long  year.  "Number  1280  has  acted  for 
some  time  as  secretary  in  one  of  the  bureaux; 
but  another  convict,  displaced  for  Dalahaide 
bejttuse  of  carelessness  and  inaccuracy,  was 
jealous  of  the  favour  shown  the  aristocrat  (ah, 
I  assure  you  they  know  all  about  each  other's 


182       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

affairs  and  circumstances  here!),  contrived  to 
make  a  rough  knife  out  of  a  piece  of  flint,  and 
stabbed  his  rival  in  the  back,  narrowly  missing 
the  lungs.  As  it  was,  the  wound  was  a  serious 
one,  and  Dalahaide  is  in  the  hospital.  The 
would-be  murderer  is  now  undergoing  punish- 
ment in  what  we  call  the  Black  Cell." 

"The  wound  was  not  actually  dangerous.?" 
Roger  hastened  to  inquire,  seeing  that  Virginia's 
lips  were  white. 

"He  ought  not  to  be  dangerously  ill,"  said 
the  Commandant.  "He  is  young,  and  quite 
one  of  our  athletes  —  or  was.  The  life  he  had 
led  here,  though  not  what  he  would  choose,  has 
not  been  unhealthful.  But  the  doctor,  with 
whom  I  have  discussed  his  case,  says  that  the 
wish  to  recover  is  lacking.  The  man  is  hopeless. 
He  would  rather  die  than  live;  and  his  physician 
thinks  it  exceedingly  likely  that  he  will  do  so." 

"That  is  sad,"  said  Sir  Roger,  his  eyes  still 
on  Virginia. 

The  Commandant  shrugged  his  shoulders. 
"We  are  accustomed  to  sadness  here,"  he 
replied.     "But   the   exile    and    degradation    of 


NUMBER   1280  183 

Noumea  are  no  doubt  harder  of  endurance  to  a 
man  like  Dalahaide  —  proud,  sensitive,  refined, 
intellectual,  accustomed  to  every  luxury.  He 
was  like  a  madman  when  he  first  came,  four  or 
five  years  ago.  Several  times  he  attempted 
escape  and  suicide.  Then  he  became  sullenly 
despairing;  but  I  began  to  take  an  interest  in 
him,  believing  that  he  was  not  at  bottom  such 
a  desperate  character  as  the  surveillants  had 
grown  to  consider  him.  I  did  what  I  could  to 
soften  his  lot,  having  him  introduced  to  more 
congenial  work  in  the  bureau;  but  this  was  not 
until  he  had  known  three  months  in  the  Black 
Cell.  Some  men  lose  their  minds  in  the  Cachot 
Noir,  though  its  horrors  have  been  mitigated 
of  late  years.  But  Dalahaide's  brain  did  not 
fail;  and  he  has  proved  a  valuable  man  at 
secretarial  work.  Also  during  the  plague,  three 
years  ago,  he  volunteered  as  a  nurse,  and  was 
admirable.  You  shall  see  him  in  hospital, 
since  you  wish  it,  and  even  talk  with  him;  but 
you  must  not  leave  New  Caledonia  with  the 
impression  that  all  convicts  are  like  this  man. 
Now  we  will  finish  the  inspection  of  the  prison 


184       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

here,  and  then  my  carriage  shall  drive  us  to  the 
hospital,  which  is  at  a  little  distance." 

How  Virginia  got  through  the  next  half-hour 
she  did  not  know.  If  she  had  dared,  she  would 
have  begged  to  go  on  at  once  to  the  hospital; 
but  she  did  not  dare.  It  was  necessary  to  sub- 
mit to  the  delay  of  being  guided  through  the 
prison,  to  be  shown  the  galleries  and  the  cells, 
the  Pretoire,  and  to  hear  patiently  the  explana- 
tion of  the  Bertillon  system.  At  last,  however, 
they  were  once  more  in  the  carriage  which  had 
been  kept  waiting  for  them;  but  even  then  they 
must  still  exercise  patience,  for  a  Disciplinary 
Camp  was  on  the  road  along  which  they  must 
pass,  and  to  betray  too  much  eagerness  to  reach 
their  journey's  end  (when  avowedly  they  had 
come  to  New  Caledonia  for  information)  would 
have  been  dangerous.  At  the  camp  they  must 
perforce  squander  twenty  or  thirty  minutes, 
Virginia  and  George  pretending  to  take  notes 
of  what  they  saw  and  heard;  and  then  they 
turned  westward.  Before  them  stretched  a 
long  avenue  of  strangely  bent  and  sloping  palms. 
It  was  the  avenue  of  the  hospital. 


NUMBER   1980  185 

They  drove  down  it  to  a  stone  archway, 
glittering  white  in  the  sun,  and  saw  beyond  a 
green  and  shaded  garden,  jewelled  with  gor- 
geous flowers,  and  heavy  with  richly  mingling 
scents. 

"If  Dalahaide  is  no  worse  to-day,  we  shall 
probably  find  him  in  the  garden  here,'*  said  the 
Commandant.  "He  must  have  read  at  least 
half  a  dozen  times  an  old  copy  of  Dante  which 
I  lent  him;  the  books  in  the  prison  library  are 
not  much  to  his  taste." 

No  one  answered,  not  even  Roger.  In  fact, 
at  the  moment  Roger  was  more  anxious,  per- 
haps, than  any  other  member  of  the  party,  for 
he  realized  the  existence  of  a  certain  danger 
which  Virginia  and  her  brother  had  apparently 
lost  sight  of,  although  long  ago  it  had  been 
discussed  by  them  all.  It  had  also  been  pro- 
vided against;  but  the  suggestion  that  Maxime 
Dalahaide  might  be  met  here  in  the  garden, 
the  thought  that  at  any  moment  they  might 
come  upon  him  suddenly  and  unexpectedly, 
upset  these  prudent  calculations. 

As  Maxime  and  Roger  had  known  each  other 


186       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

five  years  ago,  it  had  been  decided  that  a  meeting 
must  be  avoided  at  first,  lest  in  his  surprise  at 
seeing  a  familiar  face  —  like  a  ghost  from 
another  world  —  the  prisoner  should  cry  out, 
and  involuntarily  put  those  who  watched  upon 
their  guard.  The  three  had  planned  among 
themselves,  when  this  day  was  still  in  the  future, 
that  if  they  should  succeed  in  their  first  step, 
and  gain  access  to  Maxime  Dalahaide,  Roger 
must  keep  in  the  background  until  his  mind 
had  been  prepared  by  Virginia  and  George 
Trent  for  what  was  to  come.  The  other  two, 
as  strangers  to  him,  could  approach  the  prisoner 
without  risk.  But  they  had  expected  to  see  him, 
if  at  all,  in  some  room  or  cell,  to  which  certain 
members  of  the  party  might  be  conducted  by 
request;  while  here,  in  this  vast  garden,  with  its 
ambushes  of  trees  and  shrubs,  any  one  of  the 
half-hidden  gray  figures  which  they  could 
distinguish  in  the  green  shadows  might  prove 
to  be  Dalahaide. 

Roger  did  not  know  what  to  do.  He  might 
offer  to  stop  behind  and  wait  in  the  carriage 
outside  the  garden  gates.     But  if  he  did  this  it 


NUMBER   1280  18T 

would  seem  strange  and  even  ungracious  to  the 
Commandant,  who  was  taking  so  much  trouble 
to  entertain  them,  and  to  "seem  strange"  was 
alone  enough  to  constitute  danger.  He  com- 
promised, keeping  behind  with  George,  while 
Virginia  walked  ahead  with  the  old  Frenchman. 

In  the  midst  of  the  garden  stood  the  quad- 
rangular building  of  the  hospital,  the  steep  roof 
forming  broad  verandahs.  There  were  gray 
figures  sitting  or  lounging  there  also,  but  the 
Commandant  said  that  Number  1280  would  not 
be  found  among  these,  for  he  fled  as  much  as 
might  be  from  the  society  of  his  fellow-convicts. 

They  turned  the  comer  of  a  shaded  path  and 
came  out  under  a  green  canopy  made  by  four 
large  palms.  A  man  lay  underneath,  his  head 
pillowed  on  his  arm,  his  face  upturned  —  a 
man  in  the  sordid  prison  gray.  Virginia  Beverly 
grew  giddy,  and,  brave  as  she  had  been  so  far, 
for  an  instant  she  feared  that  she  was  going  to 
faint  like  an  ordinary,  stay-at-home  girl.  She 
started,  and  caught  at  the  arm  of  the  Com- 
mandant, who  turned  to  her  in  concerned 
surprise. 


188       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"One  would  think  you  had  guessed  that  this 
was  our  man,"  he  said  in  a  low  voice,  for  the 
convict,  whose  face  was  ghastly  pale  in  the  green 
dusk,  seemed  to  sleep. 

"I  beg  your  pardon,"  whispered  Virginia. 
*'I  stepped  on  a  stone  and  twisted  my  foot.  Is 
this,  then,  the  man  we  have  come  to  find.'^" 

How  well  she  knew  that  it  was  he!  How 
well  she  knew,  though  the  terrible  years  had 
changed  the  brave  young  face  in  the  portrait 
almost  beyond  the  recognition  of  a  stranger. 
All  the  gay  audacity  was  gone,  therefore  much 
of  the  individuality  which  had  distinguished  it 
for  Virginia.  The  strong,  clear  features  of  the 
man  looked,  as  he  lay  there  asleep,  as  if  they 
had  been  carved  from  old  ivory;  the  lines  were 
sharpened,  there  were  hollows  in  the  cheeks 
and  under  the  black  lines  of  the  lashes.  Even 
in  sleep  the  dark  brows  were  drawn  together  in 
a  slight  frown,  and  the  clean-cut  lips  drooped 
in  unutterable  melancholy.  The  figure,  lying 
on  its  back  and  extended  along  the  grass, 
appeared  very  tall,  and  lay  so  still  that  it  might 
have  been  the  form  of  a  dead  man. 


NUMBER   1280  189 

Roger,  without  seeing  the  sleeping  face, 
guessed  by  the  abrupt  stop  and  the  low-spoken 
words  of  the  two  in  front  that  Maxime  Dala- 
haide  was  found.  He  drew  back  slightly,  with 
a  meaning  glance  at  George,  who  stepped  for- 
ward to  join  the  others. 

Suddenly  the  black  line  of  lashes  trembled; 
a  pair  of  dark,  tragic  eyes,  more  like  those  of 
Madeleine  Dalahaide  than  the  laughing  ones 
of  the  portrait,  opened  and  looked  straight  into 
Virginia's.  For  a  few  seconds  their  gaze 
remained  fixed,  as  if  the  white  vision  had  been 
a  broken  dream;  then  a  deep  flush  spread  over 
the  thin  face  of  the  young  man,  and  he  rose  to 
his  feet. 

"This  lady  and  her  brother  have  come  a 
long  way  to  see  New  Caledonia,"  said  the 
Commandant  kindly.  "They  wish  to  talk  to 
you." 

Maxime  Dalahaide  bowed.  Virginia  saw  that 
he  pressed  his  lips  together,  and  that  the  muscles 
of  his  face  quivered.  She  guessed  how  he  must 
suffer  at  having  to  gratify  —  as  he  supposed 
—  the  morbid  curiosity  of  a  girl,  and  it  hurt  her 


190       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

to  think  that  she  must  be  the  one  to  give  him 
this  added  pain. 

She  turned  to  the  Commandant,  and,  with 
a  voice  not  quite  steady,  asked  if  she  and  her 
brother  might  speak  to  the  man  alone.  She 
felt  that  she  should  be  less  embarrassed  in  her 
questions,  she  said,  if  no  one  listened.  With  a 
smile  the  old  Frenchman  consented,  bowing 
like  a  courtier,  and  joined  Roger  Broom,  who 
stood  at  a  little  distance  out  of  sight  of  the 
convict. 

"I  thought  there  was  no  use  embarrassing 
the  poor  fellow  with  any  more  strangers," 
Roger  explained  to  the  Commandant,  as  they 
moved  further  away  down  the  path  by  which 
they  had  come.  "After  all,  my  place  in  this 
expedition  is  only  to  take  a  few  photographs, 
wherever  they  are  permitted";  and  he  touched 
the  camera,  slung  over  his  shoulder,  of  which 
he  had  already  made  ostentatious  use  on  several 
occasions.  "May  I  have  a  snapshot  of  the 
hospital,  with  all  those  chaps  on  the  verandahs  ? 
Thanks;  we  must  go  a  little  to  the  right,  then. 
By  Jove!  what  a  lot  of  gray  figures  there  are 


NUMBER  1280  191 

about.  How  do  you  make  sure  they  can't 
escape,  if  they  choose,  out  here  where  they  don't 
seem  to  be  guarded?" 

"It  is  only  *seem/ "  retorted  the  Com- 
mandant, laughing.  "All  these  men  are  in- 
valids; we  make  short  work  of  malingerers. 
Very  few  could  run  a  dozen  yards  without  falling 
down,  and  most  of  them  are  well  contented 
as  they  are.  But,  if  any  one  should  be  mad 
enough  to  attempt  a  dash  for  freedom,  four  or 
five  surveillants  would  be  on  him  before  he 
could  count  twenty.  They  do  not  make  them- 
selves conspicuous  here,  that  is  all." 

Sir  Roger  Broom  looked  across  the  eastern 
wall  of  the  hospital  garden,  over  the  green 
expanse  of  the  great  lagoon,  and  thought  much; 
but  he  said  nothing.  Quietly  he  prepared  to 
take  the  suggested  photograph,  and  the  hand 
that  held  the  camera  did  not  shake,  though  he 
could  guess  of  what,  by  this  time,  George  Trent 
and  Virginia  were  talking  with  the  convict 
under  the  palms. 

When  the  Commandant  had  left  them  alone 
with  him,  Maxime  Dalahaide  remained  silent. 


192       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

Virginia's  beauty  filled  him  —  not  with  happy 
worship  of  its  perfection,  but  rather  with  an 
overwhelming  bitterness.  He  was  a  Thing,  of 
whom  this  exquisite,  fresh  young  girl  wished  to 
ask  a  few  questions,  so  that  she  might  go  back 
to  her  world,  thousands  of  miles  away,  and  say, 
"Only  fancy,  I  talked  to  one  of  the  convicts  — 
an  awful  creature.  He  had  murdered  a  woman, 
but  he  was  quite  quiet,  and,  as  my  brother  was 
close  beside  me,  I  was  not  one  bit  afraid." 

Just  because  he  was  a  Thing,  with  no  right 
to  pride  and  self-respect,  she  could  ask  what 
she  pleased,  and  he  would  answer  her;  but  she 
must  begin,  not  he. 

She  did  begin,  yet  so  differently  from  the 
cut-and-dried  beginning  which  he  had  scornfully 
expected,  that  a  flash  of  vivid  amazement  swept 
the  hardness  from  the  exile's  face. 

"Be  very  careful,"  she  said  rapidly  in  English. 
"Don't  speak,  don't  show  anything  you  may 
feel.  Perhaps  we  are  watched.  You  are  Max- 
imo Dalahaide.  We  haven't  come  here  for 
curiosity,  as  you  think,  but  to  save  you.  We 
have  come  thousands  of  miles  for  that," 


NUMBER   1280  19$ 

"Why?"  It  was  as  if  the  question  fell  from 
his  lips  without  volition.  The  man  did  not 
believe  his  own  ears.  He  thought  that  he  must 
have  been  seized  with  delirium. 

"Because  we  believe  in  you  and  because  we 
are  friends  of  your  sister's,"  Virginia  answered. 
*'A  man  you  once  knew  is  with  us  —  Roger 
Broom.     Do  you  remember.^" 

"Roger  Broom!"  Maxime  repeated  dazedly. 
"It  is  like  an  echo  from  the  past.  Yes  —  yes,  I 
remember." 

"It  is  through  him  that  we  have  been  able  to 
reach  you.  He  is  close  by,  but  dared  not  let  you 
see  him,  until  you  had  been  warned.  Now,  we 
must  arrange  everything  in  a  few  minutes  for 
your  escape;  the  Commandant  has  been  kind, 
but  he  may  not  give  us  long  together." 

"I  think  I  must  be  dreaming,"  stammered 
Maxime,  all  his  bitterness  forgotten.  "I've 
been  ill.  I  don't  understand  things  as  quickly 
as  I  used.  Escape!  You  have  come  here  to 
—  help  me  to  escape.  Yes,  it  is  certainly  a 
dream.     I  shall  wake  up  by  and  by!" 

"You  will  wake  up  free,"  said  Virginia  not 


104       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

daring  to  raise  her  voice  above  a  low  monotone. 
"Free,  on  our  yacht,  that  has  brought  us  from 
France  to  take  you  home." 

Suddenly  a  glaze  of  tears  overspread  Maxime 
Dalahaide's  dark  eyes.  "Home.?"  he  echoed 
wistfully.     "Home!    Ah,  if  it  might  be!" 

"It  shall  be,"  returned  Virginia.  "George,  tell 
him  our  plan.     You  can  do  it  better  than  I." 

"The  thing  is  to  get  you  on  board  the  yacht," 
said  Trent.  "After  that,  you're  all  right.  We 
can  show  our  heels  to  pretty  well  anything  in 
these  parts." 

Dalahaide  shook  his  head.  "There  are  no 
words  to  thank  you  for  what  you  have  done,  and 
would  do  for  me,"  he  answered.  "But  it  is 
impossible.  Once  I  thought  of  escape.  I  tried 
and  failed,  as  others  have  tried  and  failed.  After 
the  second  time,  they  put  me  in  the  Black  Cell, 
and  I  saved  myself  from  madness  by  calling  to 
memory  all  of  Shakespeare  that  I  had  ever 
learned.  I  don*^t  say  *  impossible'  because  I  am 
afraid  of  that  again.  I  have  passed  beyond 
fear  of  anything.  What  have  I  left  to  dread  ?  I 
know  the  worst;  I  have  lived  through  the  worst 


NUMBER   1280  195 

that  can  befall  a  man.  But  in  that  dreadful 
blackness,  where  my  very  soul  seemed  to  dis- 
solve in  night,  I  realized  that,  even  if  I  could 
escape,  how  useless  freedom  would  be  if  my 
innocence  were  not  proved.  I  could  not  go  to 
France  or  England.  I  should  live  a  hunted 
life.  As  well  be  an  exile  here  as  nearer  home 
—  better,  perhaps,  now  that  the  first  bitterness 
has  passed." 

**You  think  this  because  you've  been  ill,  and 
your  blood  runs  slow,"  said  George  Trent.  "All 
you  need  is  to  be  strong  again,  and " 

"  Strong  again ! "  echoed  Maxime,  with  sorrow- 
ful contempt.  "I've  been  thanking  heaven 
that  I  hadn't  strength  enough  left  to  care  for  any- 
thing. It's  true,  as  you  say;  the  oil  in  my  lamp 
of  life  burns  low,  and  so  much  the  better  for  me. 
What  I  want  now  is  to  get  it  all  over  as  soon 
as  may  be.  You  are  kind  —  you  are  so  good 
to  me  that  I  am  lost  in  wonder;  yet  even  you 
cannot  give  me  a  freedom  worth  having.  Take 
back  my  love  to  my  sister,  but  tell  her  —  tell 
her  that  I  am  content  to  stay  as  I  am." 

"Content  to  die,  you  mean!"  cried  Virginia. 


196       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"Oh,  you  are  ill  indeed  to  feel  like  this.  How 
can  you  bear  to  stay  here,  when  you  have  a 
chance  to  be  a  free  man  —  even  if  not  a  happy 
man  —  to  stay  here,  and  let  your  enemy,  who 
sent  you  to  this  place,  laugh  and  think  how  his 
plot  against  you  has  succeeded?" 

The  dreamy  look  of  weary  resignation  on 
Maxime  Dalahaide's  face  changed  to  alertness. 
"Why  do  you  speak  of  an  enemy,  and  a  plot 
against  me?"  he  asked.  "That  poor  girl  was 
murdered;  but  I  have  never  thought  that  she 
was  killed  because  her  murderer  wished  to 
involve  me.  That  part  was  an  accident.  Liane 
Devereux " 

"Is  not  dead,"  broke  in  Virginia.  "She  is 
on  our  yacht  now,  in  the  harbour  of  Noumea. 
WTien  you  come,  and  she  sees  you,  she  will 
confess  the  whole  plot." 

"But  I  saw  her  lying  dead  —  a  thousand 
times  that  sight  has  been  before  my  eyes." 

"It  w^as  not  she.  If  you  want  to  know  all,  to 
fathom  the  whole  mystery,  and  learn  how  to 
prove  your  own  innocence,  you  will  not  refuse 
to  do  what  we  ask." 


NUMBER   1280  1»7 

Maxime's  thin  face  no  longer  looked  like  a 
carving  in  old  ivory.  The  statue  had  come  to 
life.  The  spring  of  hope  had  begun  to  stir 
in  his  veins.  "If  it  were  possible  to  prove  it  — 
at  this  late  day!"  he  exclaimed.  "But  even  if 
it  were  —  you  forget  the  tremendous  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  escape.  How  could  I  reach  your 
yacht  .^  It  could  not  come  near  enough  to 
shore  here  to  pick  me  up;  even  a  small  boat 
would  be  seen " 

"Not  at  night,"  said  Virginia. 

"Remember,  it  is  moonlight.  The  night  will 
be  like  day.  Long  before  a  small  boat  could 
reach  the  yacht  from  the  beach  she  would  be 
followed,  overtaken,  and  not  only  should  I  be 
brought  back,  but  I  should  have  the  misery  of 
knowing  that  I  had  been  the  cause  of  bring- 
ing my  brave  friends  into  trouble.  They  would 
fire  upon  us.     If  I  were  killed  it  would  matter 

little  enough;  but  if  you  were  to  be  shot " 

He  spoke  to  George  Trent,  but  his  eyes  moved 
quickly  to  Virginia's  face.- — 

"My  sister  would  be  waiting  for  us  on  board 
the  "Bella  Cuha,"  said  Trent.     "Roger  Broom 


198       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

and  I  will  take  jolly  good  care  of  ourselves  — 
and  of  you,  too,  if  you'll  only  give  us  a  chance." 

"If  you'd  come  here  a  month  ago,"  sighed  the 
prisoner,  ** before  I  got  this  wound  in  my  back! 
Now  I'm  afraid  it's  too  late.  I've  let  myself 
go.  I  thought  I  saw  the  one  door  of  escape  for 
me  opening  —  death;  and  instead  of  turning  my 
back  I  walked  toward  it.  I've  let  my  strength 
down.  I  haven't  eaten  or  slept  much,  and  I 
began  to  have  a  pleasant  feeling  of  slipping 
easily  out  with  the  tide.  Now  there's  an  incen- 
tive to  stop,  the  tide's  too  strong  and  I'm  too 
weak.     I  can't  count  on  myself." 

"Count  on  us,"  said  George.  "We'll  see 
you  through,  you  bet.  And  think  of  your 
sister.  We  promised  we'd  take  you  back  with 
us.  We  can't  go  to  her  without  you,  after  raising 
her  hopes.  It  would  kill  her."  Trent  glanced 
at  Virginia,  as  if  expecting  her  to  add  encourag- 
ing arguments  to  his;  but  she  was  silent,  her 
eyes  alone  appealing  to  Dalahaide.  George 
Trent  was  her  half-brother,  and  had  known  her 
all  her  life,  but  he  felt  the  thrill  of  that  look  in 
the   girl's    beautiful    eyes.     How    much   more, 


NUMBER  1280  19d 

then,  must  Maxime  Dalahaide  have  felt  it,  he 
said  to  himself. 

"It  is  the  risk  for  you  I  think  of  —  if  I  fail," 
the  prisoner  exclaimed.  *'If  I  had  only  myself 
to  consider  I  should  hesitate  no  longer." 

"We  have  come  a  long,  long  way  to  you," 
Virginia's  eyes  said;  and  her  lips  would  have 
added  something  had  not  George's  hand  fallen 
suddenly  in  warning  on  her  shoulder.  "Some- 
body is  coming,"  he  whispered.  "For  all  our 
sakes,  don't  fail  us,  Dalahaide.  We  shall  look 
for  you  to-night  —  there,"  and  he  nodded 
toward  the  water.  "Make  your  way  to  the 
beach  and  hide  among  the  rocks  till  you  see  our 
little  boat.  Don't  take  to  the  water — remember 
the  sharks.  If  you're  not  there  to-night,  we'll 
hang  about  till  the  next." 

"  We'll  wait  till  you  come,  if  we  wait  a  year," 
said  Virginia. 

There  was  time  for  no  more.  The  Com- 
mandant, with  Roger  Broom  by  his  side, 
appeared  round  the  corner  of  the  winding  path 
near  by. 

"  Well,  mademoiselle,  have  we  given  you  time 


200       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

to  finish  your  interview,  and  has  it  been  satis- 
factory?*' asked  the  old  Frenchman  good- 
naturedly. 

"You  have  given  us  just  enough  time,  and 
it  has  been  most  satisfactory,  thank  you,"  the 
girl  answered.  "I  hope,"  she  added,  "to  make 
the  very  best  use  of  it  later."  And  again  her 
eyes  met  those  of  the  statue  that  she  had  waked 
to  life. 


CHAPTER  IX 

A  CRY   ACROSS  THE   WATER 

IT  WAS  night  in  the  harbour  of  Noumea; 
a  night  of  pitiless,  white,  revealing  moon- 
light which  sharpened  the  black  outline  of  every 
shadow,  and  made  the  whitewashed  wall  of  each 
low  house  gleam  like  mother-o'-pearl.  Had 
there  been  no  secret  business  on  foot,  Virginia 
Beverly's  beauty-loving  soul  would  have  been 
on  its  knees  in  worship  of  the  scene  as  she  sat 
on  the  deck  of  the  yacht,  which  seemed  not  to 
float  in  water,  but  to  hang  suspended  in  the 
transparent,  mingling  azure  of  sea  and  sky. 
To  her  the  moon  was  an  enemy,  cruel  and 
terrible.  She  would  have  given  her  right  hand 
for  a  dark  curtain  cloud  to  be  drawn  across 
that  blazing  lamp  and  the  scintillating  stars 
reflected  in  the  water  like  sequins  shining  through 
blue  gauze. 

Midnight  was  near,  and  the  yellow  lights  of 


202       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

the  town  were  fewer  than  they  had  been.  The 
quay  was  quiet  and  deserted,  and  the  He  Nou 
was  a  black  shape  in  the  translucent  glitter  of 
the  water.  On  the  Bella  Cuba  all  was  very  still, 
and  each  whisper  of  the  little  waves  that  lapped 
against  the  side  of  the  yacht  came  distinctly 
to  Virginia's  ears. 

The  Countess  de  Mattos  had  not  appeared 
at  dinner,  but  had  sent  excuses,  her  head  being 
much  worse.  But  it  was  Virginia's  opinion  that, 
once  out  of  sight  of  Noumea,  the  lady  intended 
to  be  convalescent.  Kate  Gardiner  also  was 
in  retirement,  and  had  for  once  shown  temper 
even  to  Virginia;  but  Dr.  Grayle's  report  of 
the  day  was  reassuring,  and  as  Kate  had  had  no 
opportunity  of  doing  harm,  even  if  she  had 
wished  it,  she  and  her  grievances  were  dis- 
missed from  Virginia's  mind  in  these  supreme 
moments. 

Her  eyes  were  straining  after  a  small  electric 
launch,  which  was  already  distant.  Virginia 
could  not  look  away,  and  still  she  tried  to  per- 
suade herself  that  she  could  not  see  the  little 
black  gliding  thing  distinctly,  because,  if  it  was 


A  CRY  ACROSS  THE   WATER  203 

plainly  visible  to  her,  it  must  be  so  to  other  eyes 
also  —  if  eyes  on  shore  were  waking  and  watch- 
ing now. 

Suddenly  the  boat  disappeared  behind  a 
buttress  of  rock  silhouetted  on  the  silver  track 
of  the  moon,  and  at  the  same  instant  the  yacht's 
anchor  began  slowly  to  be  hauled  up. 

Virginia  knew  what  that  meant.  To-night's 
work  was  for  Roger  and  George,  not  for  her; 
but  she  had  each  detail  of  the  programme  at 
her  fingers'  ends  —  indeed,  had  helped  to 
arrange  it.  When  the  launch  had  gone  a 
certain  distance  from  the  Bella  Cuba,  on  its 
stealthy  way  toward  the  He  Nou,  the  yacht's 
captain  —  an  Englishman,  discreet  and  expert 
—  had  orders  to  follow  slowly.  The  start  had 
not  been  made  earlier,  because  it  was  desirable 
that  town  and  prison  should  be  asleep,  and 
the  danger  of  discovery  minimized.  If  the 
yacht  were  seen  moving  in  the  night  suspicion 
would  be  aroused,  for  leaving  the  harbour  of 
Noumea  is  a  perilous  undertaking  except 
between  sunrise  and  sunset;  yet  she  must  move, 
and  follow  the  boat  like  one  of  the  great  black 


304       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

sharks  swimming  with  grim  expectancy  behind 
her,  lest  the  little  bark  should  be  overtaken  in 
case  of  alarm  and  pursuit. 

No  explanation  had  been  given  to  Captain 
Gorst,  who  neither  needed  nor  desired  any. 
His  orders  were  to  follow  the  boat,  and  stand 
in  as  near  the  He  Nou  as  possible  without 
arousing  attention  on  shore;  there  to  wait  until 
the  launch  returned,  or  to  approach  still  closer 
to  the  island,  if  pursuit  rendered  it  advisable. 
These  orders  Virginia  knew  he  w^ould  obey  to 
the  letter;  and  she  knew  also,  though  no  word 
had  been  spoken  to  her  on  the  subject,  that  the 
little  cannon,  which  had  been  silent  since  the  Bella 
Cuba  had  been  a  lightly  armoured  despatch-boat 
in  the  American-Spanish  War,  were  ready  to 
speak  to-night,  if  worst  came  to  worst. 

It  was  that  vague  "worst"  that  troubled 
Virginia's  soul  as,  almost  soundlessly,  the  heart 
of  the  Bella  Cuba  began  to  beat,  and  she  glided 
through  the  glimmering  water.  If  only  one 
could  know  exactly  where  and  how  to  expect 
the  blow,  the  thought  that  it  might  fall  would 
be  more  bearable,   the  girl   felt.     But  one  of 


A  CRY  ACROSS  THE  WATER  205 

many  things  might  happen  to  wreck  their  hopes; 
and  failure  now  probably  meant  failure  forever. 
Maxime  Dalahaide  might  be  too  ill  to  make 
the  attempt  to-night,  or  he  might  be  watched 
in  the  act  of  making  it.  The  men  in  the  launch 
might  miss  seeing  him,  even  if  he  had  contrived 
to  escape  from  the  hospital  and  gain  the  beach. 
Or  his  flight  might  be  discovered,  and  the  launch 
only  arrive  near  the  shore  in  time  for  its  occu- 
pants to  see  him  dragged  back  to  the  old  life, 
with  all  its  past  horrors,  and  many  new  ones 
added  by  way  of  punishment.  Possibly  the 
coral  reefs  and  jagged  rocks  might  prevent  the 
launch  getting  close  to  shore,  and  Maxime  would 
have  to  swim  out  to  it.  Then,  there  were  the 
sharks.  Virginia  had  already  seen  two  or  three 
to-day  —  hideous,  black  shapes  swimming  far 
down  below  the  surface  of  the  clear  water  —  and 
she  shuddered  as  she  remembered  the  great 
snouts  and  cold,  evil  eyes  of  the  man-eaters. 
What  was  that  the  Commandant  had  said  in  the 
afternoon  ?  "The  sharks  are  the  best  guardians 
the  He  Nou  can  have."  Were  those  horrible 
watch-dogs  of  the  sea  on  the  lookout  now  ? 


206       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

At  the  same  moment,  the  same  thought  was 
in  the  minds  of  Roger  Broom  and  George  Trent, 
as  the  little  electric  launch  rounded  the  point 
of  rock  and  lost  sight  of  the  Bella  Cuba.  The 
water,  as  they  looked  toward  the  He  Nou,  which 
must  be  their  destination,  was  a  flood  of  molten 
silver  poured  from  the  white-hot  furnace  of  the 
full  moon.  They  knew  how  black  the  launch 
must  be  on  this  sheet  of  radiance,  how  con- 
spicuous an  object  to  watchful  eyes  on  shore; 
and  though  the  glittering  sheen  destroyed  the 
transparent  effects  of  the  water  here,  they 
guessed  what  gliding  shapes  were  surely  upon 
their  track,  coldly  awaiting  disaster. 

Sitting  in  the  boat  they  could  not  see  the 
hospital;  not  a  light  was  visible  in  any  prison 
building;  and  they  had  the  feeling  that  in  any 
one  of  a  dozen  great  masses  of  shadow  armed 
surveillants  might  be  hiding,  to  spring  out  upon 
Maxime  Dalahaide  as  he  crept  toward  his 
friends  and  far-oif  safety.  There  was  no  sound 
except  the  crisp  rustle  of  the  water  as  the  launch 
cut  through  it;  but  as  they  entered  the  lagoon, 
where  among  tall  reeds  the  image  of  the  moon 


A  CRY  ACROSS  THE  WATER  207 

lay  unbroken  like  a  fallen  silver  cup,  a  whisper- 
ing ran  through  the  rushes,  as  if  to  pass  the  news 
of  their  approach  from  ear  to  ear. 

Suddenly  a  tall  figure  rose  up  on  a  slight 
eminence  and  waved  its  arms,  then  disappeared 
again  so  quickly  that  it  might  almost  have  been 
a  fantastic  shadow;  but  quickly  as  it  had  come 
and  gone,  Roger  and  George  knew  that  their 
hope  had  not  been  in  vain.  Convict  1280  had 
completed  the  first  stage  of  his  journey.  He  had 
seen  them  coming  to  the  rescue,  and  he  had 
given  them  the  secret  of  his  hiding-place. 

The  two  men  were  alone  in  the  launch.  Now, 
without  a  word,  Roger  Broom  headed  it  for  the 
point  where  the  figure  had  appeared.  There 
was  a  strange  confusion  of  emotions  in  his  brain, 
which  still  left  it  clear  to  act.  Under  his  habitual 
air  of  lazv  indifference  he  hid  strong  feelings, 
and  at  this  moment  they  worked  within  him  like 
fermenting  wine.  In  this  adventure  he  was 
playing  for  great  stakes.  Twice  in  the  last 
year  had  Virginia  refused  him;  her  love  and 
her  beautiful  self  were  all  that  Roger  craved  for 
in  the  world,  but  he  had  meant  never  to  ask 


908       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

for  them  again,  when  this  mad  scheme  of  rescue 
had  been  conceived.  He  had  opposed  it  as 
foolish  and  impossible;  then  Virginia  had  hinted 
that,  if  he  would  join  her  in  it,  giving  help  and 
advice,  she  would  refuse  him  nothing.  After 
that  day  he  had  thrown  himself  into  the  adven- 
ture heart  and  soul,  saying  little,  but  doing  all 
that  man  could  do.  Though  his  few  words  had 
sometimes  discouraged  Virginia's  ardent  hopes, 
he  had  doggedly  meant  to  succeed  if  he  had 
to  die  in  the  supreme  effort.  He  had  put  his 
whole  soul  into  the  work,  with  no  other  thought 
until  to-day.  Then  —  he  had  seen  what  George 
Trent  had  seen;  a  certain  look  in  Virginia's 
eyes  as  they  pleaded  with  Maxime  Dalahaide 
to  free  himself.  Her  lips  had  said:  "Do  this 
for  your  sister's  sake."  But  her  eyes  had  said: 
"Do  it  for  mine."  Never  had  such  a  light 
shone  in  those  beautiful  eyes  for  Roger;  never 
would  it  so  shine  for  him;  and  he  knew  it 
well,  with  a  dull,  miserable  sickening  of  the 
heart,  which  was  like  a  pinch  from  the  hand 
of  Death. 

In  a  moment  the  whole  face  of  the  world  had 


A  CRY  ACROSS  THE  WATER 

changed  for  him.  He  was  a  man  of  honour, 
and  he  would  go  on  along  the  path  which  he 
had  traced  out  for  himself;  but  the  wish  to 
succeed  in  his  task  for  the  sake  of  success  was 
murdered  by  that  sweet  light  in  a  girl's  eyes. 
Something  coldly  calculating  said  to  Roger 
Broom  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  for  him  if 
Maxime  failed  to  come  to  the  rendezvous,  on 
that  night  or  any  other  night;  or,  if,  in  case  he 
came,  he  should  be  retaken.  Should  this 
happen,  Virginia's  implied  promise  need  not 
hold  good,  but  Roger  thought  he  knew  her 
generous  heart  well  enough  to  be  certain  that 
she  would  in  the  end  reward  him  for  what  he 
had  tried  to  do,  even  though  —  not  through 
his  fault  —  the  fight  had  been  in  vain.  On  the 
other  hand,  if  he  and  George  succeeded  in  saving 
Dalahaide,  in  bringing  Dalahaide  to  Virginia  — 
but  Roger  would  not  quite  finish  that  thought 
in  his  mind.  Resolutely  he  turned  his  back 
upon  it,  yet  it  grinned  an  evil,  skeleton  grin 
over  his  shoulder,  and  he  could  not  make  his 
ears  deaf  to  the  whisper  that  though  he  could 
and  would  hold  Virginia  to  the  keeping  of  her 


210       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

bargain,  her  heart  would  always  have  a  holy  of 
holies  shut  away  from  him. 

Roger  hated  the  cold  Voice  that  explained 
his  heart  to  his  head,  and  he  did  his  best  not  to 
listen.  But  all  he  could  compass  was  not  to  let 
himself  be  guided  by  its  promptings.  If  he 
had  desired  Dalahaide's  escape  as  whole- 
heartedly as  before,  he  could  have  worked  for  it 
no  harder  than  he  did;  still,  he  experienced  no 
warmth  of  gladness  at  sight  of  the  dark  figure 
silhouetted  for  an  instant  against  a  moonlit  haze. 
Trent  was  not  close  to  him  in  the  launch,  and 
yet  somehow  he  felt  the  thrill  of  joyous  relief 
which  shot  through  the  younger  man's  body 
at  the  signal,  and  envied  it.  But  all  was  different 
with  George;  he  could  afford  to  be  single- 
minded.  Roger  knew  very  well  that  George 
was  in  love  with  Madeleine  Dalahaide,  and 
that  there  was  nothing  he  would  not  sacrifice 
for  the  happiness  of  giving  her  back  her  brother. 

As  Roger  Broom  wrestled  with  his  own  black 
thoughts,  the  launch,  which  had  hitherto  slipped 
swiftly  toward  its  goal,  dividing  the  rushes  and 
reeds  of  the  lagoon,  refused  to  move  on.     The 


A  CRY  ACROSS  THE  WATER  211 

lush,  green  barricade  was  too  thick  to  be  cut 
through  by  its  clean  bow  and  the  force  of  its 
powerful  little  electric  motor. 

"It*s  no  good,"  whispered  George.  "We 
can't  get  on  any  farther.  This  is  what  I  was 
afraid  of.  He'll  have  to  come  out  to  us.  Thank 
goodness,  if  we  can't  get  through,  neither  can 
the  sharks." 

"Where  is  he.'^  Can  you  see  him.^"  Roger 
asked.  And  the  Voice  was  loud  in  his  ears 
again. 

"No,  I  wish  I  could.  I  don't  like  to  sing  out. 
This  luck  of  ours  so  far  is  too  good  to  last." 

"Stand  up  and  wave  your  hand.  Perhaps 
he'll  see  and  reply,"  said  Roger. 

Somehow  he  wanted  George  to  take  the  initia- 
tive now.  He  was  afraid  of  being  unconsciously 
guided  by  the  Voice. 

George  stood  up  and  waved  a  handkerchief. 
No  figure  rose  in  response,  but  as  if  in  answer, 
they  heard  a  distant  splashing  in  the  water,  and 
then,  following  so  quickly  that  it  blurred  the 
impression  of  the  first  stealthy  sound,  came 
the   sharp  explosion  of  a  shot.     Instantly  the 


212       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

slumberous  silence  of  the  tropical  night  was 
shattered  by  a  savage  confusion  of  noises. 
Other  shots  were  fired,  a  great  bell  began  to 
clang,  another  boomed  a  sullen  echo,  and  from 
far  away  spoke  the  deep,  angry  voice  of  a  cannon. 

"Good  heavens!  that's  the  cannon  on  board 
that  beastly  steam  tub  of  theirs!"  cried  George. 
"Luckily  for  us  it's  a  makeshift  concern  and  no 
gunboat;  but  it  can  catch  us  on  our  way  back 
to  the  yacht,  and  if  it  does,  all's  up." 

Roger  did  not  answer.  His  ears  were  strained 
for  the  splashing  in  the  water,  if  still  it  might  be 
heard  as  an  undertone  beneath  the  distant  din 
of  the  alarm.  The  launch  could  not  advance 
a  foot  farther,  if  it  w^ere  to  save  all  three  lives; 
and  it  would  take  some  time  at  best  for  Dala- 
haide  to  wade,  and  swim,  and  fight  his  w-ay  to 
them,  among  the  tangling  reeds.  The  escaping 
prisoner  was  weak  still  from  his  recent  wound; 
no  matter  how  high  his  courage  might  be  now, 
it  could  not  in  a  moment  repair  the  physical 
waste  which  he  had  voluntarily  allowed  to  go 
on,  courting  the  sole  release  he  had  then  foreseen. 

The  one  chance  left,  now  the  alarm  w^as  given, 


A  CRY  ACROSS  THE  WATER  213 

lay  in  the  hope  that,  though  Dalahaide's  flight 
from  the  prison  hospital  had  been  discovered, 
the  direction  he  had  chosen  was  not  yet  known. 
But  the  lagoon  was  at  least  as  likely  a  place  for 
the  search  to  begin  as  any  other;  and  then  the 
launch  might  have  been  seen  moving  across  the 
bright  streak  of  the  mooa's  track  before  it  could 
reach  the  shelter  of  the  rocks  on  its  way  to  the 
lagoon.  A  few  minutes  at  most,  and  the  hounds 
would  be  on  the  right  scent. 

These  things  Roger  told  himself,  but  he  had 
not  sat  still  to  listen.  After  the  first  second  of 
straining  attention,  he  sprang  up,  threw  off  his 
coat  and  waistcoat,  and  kicked  off  his  shoes. 

"I*m  going  to  help  him  if  I  can,"  he  said. 
"His  strength  may  fail,  or  some  stray  shark 
may  be  a  little  cleverer  than  its  fellows  and  find 
its  way  through  the  rushes.  Anyhow,  here 
goes;  and  if  Dalahaide  gets  to  you  before  me, 
don't  wait.  Push  out  the  best  you  can,  and  I'll 
catch  you  up,  swimming." 

There  was  no  time  for  arguing  or  objecting, 
even  if  it  had  been  in  Trent's  mind  to  do  either. 
Since  it  was  right  for  one  to  go,  and  Roger  chose 


214        THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

to  be  that  one,  he  must  stay;  but,  even  for  Max- 
ime's  sake,  and  for  Madeleine's,  he  could  not, 
he  decided,  leave  Roger  Broom  to  follow  — 
for  there  were  the  sharks.  No,  they  three  must 
stand  or  fall  together,  whatever  happened  now. 

The  lagoon,  in  the  spot  where  Roger  left  the 
launch,  was  too  deep  for  wading,  nor  could  he 
swim  there.  Somehow  —  he  scarcely  knew  how 
—  he  seemed  to  tread  water,  his  feet  slipping 
among  the  slimy  tangled  stems  that  were  like 
a  network  under  the  surface,  a  brackish  taste 
in  his  mouth,  the  rank,  salt  smell  of  seaweeds  in 
his  nostrils,  and  his  ears  a  soft,  sly  rustling 
which  might  mean  the  disturbed  protest  of 
a  thousand  little  subterranean  existences,  or  — 
the  pursuit  of  an  enemy  more  deadly  than  any 
on  land. 

It  was  a  harder  task  than  he  had  thought; 
still  he  persevered.  **  Dalahaide,  where  are  you  ?  " 
he  called. 

"Here!'*  came  the  answer,  only  a  few  yards 
away.  "I'm  caught  in  something,  and  up  to 
my  knees  in  mud.  I  think  my  wound's  broken 
out  again.     For  heaven's  sake,  go  back    and 


A  CRY  ACROSS  THE  WATER  215 

let  them  take  me.  After  all,  what  does  it  matter 
for  me?  I'm  done.  A  thousand  times  better 
die  than  get  you  all  into  trouble." 

"You  all!"  Even  in  that  moment  Roger  said 
to  himself  that  "all"  meant  Virginia.  Dala- 
haide  was  thinking  of  her.  He  would  rather 
die  than  she  should  be  punished  for  this  bold 
attempt  to  break  the  law.  But  aloud  Roger 
cried  out  that  he  would  go  back  with  Maxime 
or  he  would  not  go  back  at  all,  and  cheering  the 
other,  with  death  in  his  own  heart,  he  struggled 
along,  half  swimming,  half  wading,  but  always 
moving  on,  how  he  hardly  knew.  Then  at  last 
he  saw  a  dark  head,  and  a  face,  white  in  the  moon- 
light, floating  seemingly  on  the  reedy  surface  of 
the  lagoon,  like  a  water  lotus  on  its  stem. 

Roger  grasped  a  handful  of  slippery  stems  and 
held  out  a  strong  left  hand  to  the  wounded  man. 

"Take  hold,  and  1*11  pull  you  out,"  he  said. 

The  two  hands  met,  one  thin  and  white  with 
a  prison  pallor,  the  other  brown  and  muscular 
and  dependable.  They  joined,  and  Roger  held 
on  to  the  bunch  of  slippery  stems  so  hard  that 
they  cut  into  his  fingers.    Once  he  thought  they 


216       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

were  yielding,  but  at  that  instant  Dalahaide 
was  lifted  out  of  the  mud  in  which  he  had  sunk. 
Roger  caught  him  under  the  arm  and  held  him 
up.  Scrambling,  rustling,  pushing,  sinking,  ris- 
ing, spitting  out  salt,  brackish  water,  they  strug- 
gled back  toward  the  launch. 

There  it  was,  waiting,  Trent  crouching  down, 
scarcely  breathing  in  his  agony  of  impatience. 
They  saw  him,  and  at  the  same  time  their  heads 
came  into  sight  for  him,  among  the  tall,  dark 
spears  of  the  rushes.  In  another  moment 
George  in  the  launch  and  Roger  in  the  water 
were  pulling  and  pushing  Maxime,  half  fainting 
now,  up  over  the  side  of  the  swaying  boat. 

As  he  tumbled  in,  limply,  Roger  saw  a  dark 
stain  on  the  wet,  gray  convict  jacket.  It  was 
black  in  the  moonlight,  but  Roger  knew  it  would 
be  red  by  day.  The  wound  in  his  back  had 
broken  out  again,  as  he  had  thought;  even  if 
they  saved  him  now,  it  might  only  be  to  die.  It 
was  the  cold  Voice  that  said  this;  and  Roger 
shuddered,  yet  half  his  nature  welcomed  the 
suggestion.  "I've  done  what  I  could,  let  him 
die,"  was  the  answer  that  came.     Quickly  the 


A  CRY  ACROSS  THE  WATER  217 

little  launch  began  to  back  out  from  the  entangle- 
ment of  the  rushes,  and  as  soon  as  there  was 
room  George  turned  her  and  sent  her  out  like 
an  arrow  from  the  lagoon  to  deeper,  clearer 
water.  Beyond  a  certain  point  of  rock  the  Bella 
Cuba  should  lie  by  this  time,  and  once  on  board 
her  all  might  yet  be  well,  for  she  could  easily 
show  her  heels  to  anything  that  walked  the  sea 
in  these  waters. 

They  headed  straight  for  the  place  where 
they  hoped  to  find  the  yacht  waiting,  and  with 
an  exclamation  Trent  pointed  to  the  sky,  across 
which  floated  a  black,  gauzy  scarf  of  smoke. 

"Ripping  old  chap,  Captain  Gorst,"  chuckled 
George.  "That's  his  signal.  Trust  him  to  be 
where  he's  wanted  on  time  and  a  bit  before." 

But  Roger  was  silent.  There  was  a  thought 
in  his  mind  with  which  he  could  not  darken 
George's  mood  by  speaking  out.  SuflScient 
for  the  moment  was  the  evil  thereof. 

They  were  close  to  the  jutting  rock  now,  and 
it  seemed  within  ten  minutes  of  safety.  But 
something  shot  into  sight  round  the  point,  some- 
thing big,  and  black,  and  swift,  with  a  gleam  of 


218       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

fiery  eyes  and  a  belching  stream  of  smoke 
streaked  with  fire. 

"By  thunder!"  stammered  George.  "It's  not 
the  Cuba.  It's  the  Government  boat,  coming 
down  on  us.     We're  trapped,  sure  as  fate." 

The  words  rang  in  Maxime  Dalahaide's  ears 
and  reached  his  dimmed  consciousness.  The 
danger  was  not  for  him  alone,  but  for  the  others 
who  were  risking  everything  to  save  him.  It 
was  this  thought  which  seemed  to  grip  him,  and 
shake  him  into  sudden  animation.  He  sat  up, 
resting  on  one  elbow,  not  even  wincing  at  the 
grinding  pain  that  gnawed  within  the  lips  of 
his  re-opened  wound. 

"Not  trapped  yet,"  he  said.  "Keep  to  the 
right ;  to  the  right  —  not  too  far  out.  She 
daren't  come  where  we  are,  for  she'd  be  ripped 
to  pieces  on  the  reef,  and  she  knows  that." 

"  Hark !  They've  spotted  us.  She's  hailing !" 
cried  Roger  Broom. 

**Halte!  haliel"  came  harshly  across  the 
moonlit  space  of  water,  as,  obedient  to  Dala- 
haide's quick  hint,  the  course  of  the  launch  was 
changed. 


A  CRY  ACROSS  THE  WATER  219 

The  three  fugitives  were  mute,  and  again  a 
raucous  cry  broke  the  silence  of  the  sea. 

"Halt,  or  we  fire!" 

"They've  two  cannon,"  said  Maxime.  "I 
was  mad  to  bring  this  on  you,  my  friends.  If 
they  fire " 

"Let  them  fire,  and  be  hanged  to  them!" 
grumbled  George  Trent.  "Two  can  play  at 
that  game.  In  heaven's  name,  where's  the 
yacht.?    Ah  —  you  would,  would  you!" 

This  in  answer  to  a  shot  that,  with  a  red 
blaze  and  a  loud  report,  came  dancing  across  the 
water,  churning  up  spray  and  missing  the 
launch  by  a  man's  length. 

"Keep  her  going,  George,"  said  Roger  as 
quietly  as  was  his  wont.  "Our  hope's  in  speed 
now,  and  dodging,  till  the  Bella  Cuba  takes  a 
part  in  this  game." 

As  if  the  calling  on  her  name  had  conjured 
her  like  a  spirit  from  the  "vasty  deep,"  the 
graceful  form  of  the  yacht  came  into  sight. 
George,  tingling  with  the  joyous  lust  of  the 
battle,  could  not  resist  a  hurrah;  but  his  shout 
was  deadened  by  the  din  of  another  shot,  and 


220       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

then  an  answering  roar  from  the  Bella  Cuba. 
One  of  those  cannon  of  hers  had  **paid  for  its 
keep"  at  last.  Now  the  yacht,  and  every  one  on 
board  her  —  to  say  nothing  of  the  three  who 
wished  to  be  on  board  —  were  in  for  a  penny, 
in  for  a  pound. 

The  act  just  committed  was  an  offense  against 
law  and  justice  (not  always  the  same)  and  joined 
hands  with  piracy.  To  be  caught  meant  punish- 
ment the  most  severe  for  all,  possibly  even  inter- 
national complications.  If  the  French  prison- 
boat  sunk  the  yacht  and  the  launch,  and  drowned 
every  soul  concerned  in  this  mad  adventure, 
she  would  be  within  her  rights,  and  the  fugitives 
knew  it  well.  The  Bella  Cuba  had  flung  the 
red  rag  into  the  face  of  the  bull,  and  Roger 
Broom  and  George  Trent  thought  they  saw  Vir- 
ginia's hand  in  the  unhesitating  challenge. 
Captain  Gorst  might  have  thought  twice  before 
assuring  himself  that  the  time  had  come  to  obey 
orders  given  in  case  of  dire  necessity;  but  once 
would  be  enough  for  Virginia. 

"She's  given  herself  away!'*  laughed  George, 
keeping  the  launch  between  the  lagoon  and  an 


A  CRY  ACROSS  THE  WATER  221 

irregular  line  of  dark  horns  which,  rising  just 
above  the  shining  surface  of  the  water,  marked 
a  group  of  coral  reefs.  "There  won't  be  much 
doubt  in  Johnny  Crapaud's  mind  now  as  to 
what  part  that  tidy  little  craft's  cast  to  play  in 
this  show,  eh?     Hello-o!" 

Another  blaze  and  a  following  roar  drew  the 
exclamation;  but  before  George  had  had  time 
to  draw  breath  after  it,  he  and  Roger  and  Max- 
ime  were  all  three  in  the  water.  The  ball  from 
the  little  cannon  of  the  prison -boat  had  done 
its  work  better  this  time,  striking  the  electric 
launch  on  her  nose  and  shattering  her  to  pieces. 

George  Trent  was  a  brave  man,  but  his  first 
thought  was  "Sharks!"  and  the  horror  of  it 
caught  his  throat  with  a  sensation  of  nausea. 
The  instinct  of  self-preservation  is  strong  in  all 
healthy  men,  and,  though  an  instant  later  he 
was  ashamed  on  realizing  it,  the  fear  that 
thrilled  him  was  for  himself.  He  expected,  as 
his  momentarily  scattered  senses  told  him  what 
had  happened  and  where  he  was,  to  feel  huge 
teeth,  sharp  as  scythes,  meet  round  his  thigh 
and  cut  off  a  leg  as  cleanly  as  a  surgeon's  knife. 


222       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

While  he  still  quivered  with  this  living  horror, 
he  remembered  that  the  danger  was  Roger's 
and  Maxime's  as  well  as  his,  and  manhood  and 
unselfishness  came  back.  He  forgot  himself  in 
his  fear  for  them,  more  especially  for  Maxime 
—  poor  Maxime,  who  had  suffered  so  much 
that  it  would  be  hard  indeed  if  he  were  to  meet 
a  ghastly  death  in  the  very  act  of  achieving 
safety  and  freedom.  Madeleine's  beautiful, 
tragic  face  rose,  clear  as  a  star,  before  his  eyes, 
and  he  knew  that  it  would  be  reward  enough  for 
him  if  he  could  give  his  life  for  the  brother  she 
loved  so  well.  If  she  should  say  afterward, 
"Poor  fellow,  he  died  that  you  might  live, 
Maxime,"  he  felt  that  the  words  and  the  grati- 
tude in  the  girl's  heart  would  warm  him  even, 
if  his  grave  were  to  be  under  these  dark  waters 
at  the  other  end  of  the  world. 

He  had  gone  down  at  first,  and  a  hundred 
thoughts  seemed  to  have  spun  themselves  in  his 
head  by  the  time  he  rose  to  the  surface.  Shaking 
the  water  out  of  his  eyes,  he  looked  anxiously 
round  for  Roger  and  Maxime.  They  were 
nowhere  to  be  seen,  and  a  pang  shot  through 


A  CRY  ACROSS  THE  WATER  223 

George  Trent's  breast  like  a  dagger  of  ice. 
What  if  one  or  both  of  them  had  already  met 
the  terrible  fate  which  he  had  pictured  for 
himself  ? 

His  whole  soul  was  so  concentrated  upon  this 
fear  that  for  a  few  seconds  he  was  deaf  and 
blind  to  everything  outside;  but  suddenly  he 
realized  that  the  firing  between  the  yacht  and 
the  Government  boat  was  still  going  on,  a  further 
cannonade  which  woke  strange  echoes  over  the 
water. 

"Roger — Dalahaide!"  he  called.  No  answer 
came,  but,  as  his  eyes  strained  through  the 
haze  of  moonlight,  a  dark  dot  appeared  on 
the  bright  mirror  of  the  sea,  moving  fast,  and  a 
cry  was  raised  which,  though  not  loud,  carried 
clearly,  and  seemed  to  George  Trent  the  most 
terrible  he  had  ever  heard: 

"A  shark  —  a  shark!" 


CHAPTER  X 

"once  ON  BOARD  THE  lugger" 

IT  WAS  Roger  Broom's  voice  which  sent 
across  the  water  that  ominous  shout  so 
appalling  to  Trent's  ears.  Mechanically 
George  swam  toward  the  place  where  the 
dark  head  had  risen,  but  as  he  took  his  first 
stroke  a  second  head  appeared  beside  the 
other,  then  both  went  down  together. 

That  moment  concentrated  more  of  anguish 
for  George  Trent  than  all  the  years  of  his  past 
life  had  held.  He  believed  that  both  Roger 
and  Maxime  had  almost  before  his  eyes  suffered 
the  most  hideous  death  possible  to  imagine, 
and  he  knew  that  at  any  instant  he  might  share 
their  fate.  But  that  thought  no  longer  shook 
him  as  before.  Since  the  others  had  died 
so  horribly  it  would  be  well  that  he  should 
die  too.  A  moment  of  sharp  agony,  and  all 
would    be    over.      Better    so,    since    he    could 

224 


"ONCE  ON  BOARD  THE  LUGGER"  225 

not  go  back  to  Virginia  or  to  Madeleine  Dala- 
haide  alone. 

His  eyes  strained  despairingly  over  the  cruel 
glitter  of  the  rippling  sea,  with  a  cold,  vague 
feeling  that  he  had  reached  the  edge  of  the  world, 
and  was  looking  over  into  the  dim  mystery  of 
the  next.  He  was  young  and  vigorous,  and  had 
loved  life  for  its  own  sake;  but,  with  Roger  and 
Dalahaide  both  dead,  there  was  no  longer  a  full- 
blooded  craving  for  help  to  save  himself  in  his 
mind  as  he  gazed  toward  the  yacht  and  the 
French  boat.  Instead  he  wondered  with  a  sickly 
curiosity  how  long  it  would  be  before  the  filthy 
brutes,  which  had  put  an  end  to  his  companions, 
would  make  a  meal  of  him,  and  whether  it  would 
hurt  much,  or  if  unconsciousness  would  come 
soon.  Mechanically  he  swam  on,  more  or  less  in 
the  direction  of  the  Bella  Cuba  and  the  French 
boat,  which  were  at  close  quarters  now;  and 
perhaps  there  was  a  scarcely  defined  hope  in  his 
heart  that  a  stray  shot  might  finish  him  before  the 
hideous  "guardians  of  the  He  Nou"  found  their 
chance. 

The  state  of  his  own  brain  and  nerves  became 


226        THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

a  matter  of  cold  surprise  to  him;  the  suspense 
without  fear,  though  tingling  with  physical 
dread,  and  the  capacity  for  separation  of 
emotions.  He  found  himself  thinking  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  pitying  her.  This  would  break  her 
heart,  he  told  himself.  She  would  have  a  mor- 
bid feeling  that  she  was  to  blame  for  the  disaster; 
that  she  had  caused  the  death  of  her  brother 
and  cousin,  and  the  other  man  so  strangely 
important  in  her  life  of  late.  He  wished  that 
he  might  talk  to  her,  and  tell  her  not  to  mind, 
because  it  was  not  in  the  least  her  fault,  and 
she  had  done  nothing  but  good. 

Then  he  began  to  wonder  why  the  yacht  and 
the  French  boat  had  ceased  firing.  The  latter 
had  only  two  guns,  while  the  Bella  Cuba  had 
four,  and,  as  he  had  said  to  Roger  a  few  minutes 
(or  was  it  years  T)  ago,  she  was  but  a  poor  "  make- 
shift," rigged  up  more  as  a  kind  of  "scarecrow" 
for  forcats  meditating  escape  than  for  actual 
service.  Still,  she  must  carry  at  least  ten  or 
twelve  rounds  of  ammunition.  Could  it  be  that 
the  little  Bella  Cuba  had  contrived  to  knock  a 
hole  in  her  hull,  and  that  her  men  must  choose 


**ONCE  ON  BOARD  THE  LUGGER"     227 

between  beaching  her  immediately  or  having 
her  sink  ?  It  looked  as  if  this  explanation  might 
be  the  right  one,  for  she  was  certainly  retiring, 
and  that  with  haste.  To  beach  she  must  go 
round  the  point  whence  she  had  come  in, 
approaching  the  lagoon,  and  this  she  was  doing, 
the  yacht  having  no  more  to  say  to  her. 

"The  Frenchies  know  what  their  sea-wolves 
have  done,"  George  thought  grimly,  "and  so 
they  can  afford  to  let  things  slide  and  save 
themselves.  No  good  sending  out  a  boat  and 
trying  to  pick  up  their  man  under  the  nose  of 
the  enemy,  for  the  poor  fellow's  gone  where 
neither  friends  nor  foes  can  get  him.  The 
episode  is  closed.  And  all  the  Bella  Cuba 
wanted  was  to  put  the  prison  boat  out  of  the 
running.  There's  no  good  being  vindictive. 
I  could  get  to  her  now,  if  I  liked  —  provided 
those  brutes  would  let  me.  But  it's  impossible 
—  I  won't  think  of  it.  Afterward  I  should 
loathe  myself  for  being  a  coward  and  going 
back  to  life  without  the  others.  I  couldn't  have 
helped  them  —  but  it  would  seem  as  if  I  might 
have,  and  didn't.     Heavens!     When    is    this 


228       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

going  to  end?  I  can't  bear  it  long.  The  bes? 
thing  I  could  do  would  be  to  drown  myself  like 
a  man,  and  get  it  over  before  the  worst  can 
happen." 

He  flung  up  his  arms,  meaning  to  sink,  and 
wondering  whether  it  would  be  really  possible 
for  a  strong  swimmer  deliberately  to  drown  him- 
self, or  whether  instinct  would  keep  on  counter- 
manding the  brain's  orders,  until  exhaustion  did 
its  work.  One  last  look  at  the  world  he  gave 
before  the  plunge,  and  that  look  showed  him  a 
thing  which  he  could  not  believe.  Between  him 
and  the  black  horns  of  the  outer  reef  he  saw 
once  more  two  dark  heads  close  together. 

*'It  can't  be!"  Trent  said  to  himself;  never- 
theless, instead  of  flinging  away  life,  with  all 
his  strength  he  struck  out  lustily  toward  those 
floating  dots  in  the  water.  Then,  suddenly, 
something  cold  and  solid  rubbed  against  his  leg. 
How  the  knowledge  of  what  it  was  and  what  to 
do  came  to  him  so  quickly,  and  how  he  acted 
upon  that  knowledge  swiftly  almost  as  light 
moves,  he  could  not  have  told;  but  he  knew 
that  a  shark  was  after  him;    he  knew  that  it 


"ONCE  ON  BOARD  THE  LUGGER"  229 

must  turn  over  on  its  back  in  the  water  before 
the  cavernous,  fang-set  jaws  could  crunch  his 
bone  and  flesh,  and  like  a  flash  he  dived. 
Queerly,  as  he  shot  down  through  the  water, 
he  thought  again  of  something  outside  the 
desperate  need  of  self-preservation.  "This  is 
what  happened  when  I  saw  their  heads  go  down 
before  and  supposed  it  was  all  up  with  them 
both!"  he  said  to  himself.  "That's  what  they 
are  supposing  about  me  now,  if  they're  looking 
my  way.  Well,  we  shall  see.  It's  going  to  be  a 
race  between  this  infernal  brute  and  me.  I'd  bet 
on  him  —  but  the  dark  horse  sometimes  gets  in." 
After  that  he  had  no  more  consecutive 
thoughts.  Primitive  instinct  guided  him,  and 
hope  was  the  light  which  marked  the  goal. 
The  others  were  not  dead  yet,  so  he  had  a  right 
to  his  life,  if  he  could  keep  it;  and  toward  that 
end  he  strained,  swimming  as  he  had  never 
swum  before,  diving,  darting  this  way  and  that, 
feeling  rather  than  seeing  which  spot  to  avoid, 
which  to  strive  for.  At  last  his  foot  touched  rock. 
He  had  reached  that  part  of  the  jagged  coral- 
reef  which  rose  out  of  the  sea.     He  ceased  to 


230       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

swim,  and  found  that  slipping,  sliding,  stum- 
bling on  a  surface,  which  felt  to  clinging  hands 
and  feet  as  if  coated  with  ice,  and  smeared  with 
soap,  he  could  scramble  up  to  a  point  above 
water.  He  got  to  his  knees,  then  to  his  feet,  and 
as  he  stood  up,  dripping  and  dizzy,  a  shout 
came  to  him.  Roger's  voice  again !  —  but  no 
longer  sharp  with  horror  and  loathing.  There 
he  stood  on  another  low  peak  of  the  reef,  and 
Dalahaide  was  beside  him,  slimmer,  taller,  and 
straighter  than  he,  as  the  two  figures  were  darkly 
outlined  against  the  light. 

They  were  safe,  at  least  from  the  sharks ;  and 
from  the  Bella  Cuba  sl  boat  with  four  rowers  was 
swiftly  approaching.  The  reaction  of  joy  after 
the  resignation  of  despair  was  almost  too  great. 
George  Trent's  throat  contracted  with  a  sob, 
and  there  was  a  stinging  of  his  eyelids  which 
was  not  caused  by  the  salt  of  the  sea. 

"Hurrah!"  he  cried  out,  waving  his  hand  to 
the  two  men  on  the  reef,  and  to  the  rowers  in  the 
boat.  While  his  shout  still  rang  in  the  air  a 
canoty  such  as  that  in  which  they  had  crossed 
from  Noumea  to  the  He  Nou,  manned  by  twelve 


"ONCE  ON  BOARD  THE  LUGGER"  231 

rowers,  leaped  round  the  point  of  rock  behind 
which  the  French  boat  had  disappeared,  and 
came  straight  as  an  arrow  for  the  reef  on  which 
the  three  men  stood. 

Now  it  was  a  race  once  more  for  life  and  death. 
The  yacht's  boat  had  the  start,  but  those  twenty- 
four  oars  carried  the  canoty  heavy  as  it  was,  far 
faster  through  the  water.  The  Bella  Cuba  could 
not  use  her  cannon  lest  she  should  destroy  her 
own  friends,  so  nearly  did  the  two  boats  cross 
each  other  as  both  from,  different  directions, 
sped  toward  the  same  goal. 

The  yachtsmen's  blood  was  up,  and  they 
worked  like  heroes,  but  they  were  four  to  twelve. 
The  canot  shot  ahead  and  got  the  inside  track. 
The  race,  as  a  race,  could  now  have  but  one  end. 
The  canot  was  bound  to  be  first  at  the  spot  where 
the  runaway  forcat  and  one  of  his  English  friends 
stood  side  by  side  out  of  reach  of  the  hungry 
sharks,  but  not  beyond  the  grasp  of  justice. 
The  fugitives,  who  had  fought  so  long  with  the 
sea,  were  unarmed,  while  the  four  surveillants 
in  the  canot  had  revolvers,  and  would  either 
recapture  or  kill. 


232       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

But  Maxime  Dalahaide  spoke  a  word  to  his 
companion;  and,  as  if  the  triumph  of  the  canot 
over  the  yacht's  boat  had  been  a  signal,  the  two 
sprang  from  the  shelf  of  the  reef  into  the  sea. 
George  Trent  knew  well  what  was  in  their  minds; 
they  preferred  to  risk  being  food  for  sharks  to 
certain  capture;  and  without  hesitating  for  an 
instant,  George  followed  their  example.  If  they 
could  swim  under  water  to  the  yacht's  boat  before 
the  sharks  took  up  the  prison  cause,  all  was  not 
yet  lost,  for  the  boat  would  do  its  best  to  dodge 
the  canot  while  the  Bella  Cuba's  cannon  seized 
their  chance  to  work  once  more. 

George  kept  under  water  as  long  as  he  could, 
then  came  up  to  breathe  and  venture  a  glance 
round.  Crack!  went  a  pistol-shot  close  to  his 
head,  and  he  dived  again ;  but  not  before  he  had 
seen  the  yacht's  boat  not  thirty  yards  off.  How 
near  the  canot  lay  he  had  not  been  able  to  inform 
himself,  but  the  narrow  shave  he  had  just  had 
gave  him  a  hint  that  it  could  not  be  far  distant. 
He  aimed  for  the  boat  as  well  as  he  could  judge, 
felt  an  ominous,  cold  touch,  dived  deeper  for  a 
shark,  forged  ahead  again,  trying  to  forget  the 


"ONCE  ON  BOARD  THE  LUGGER"  233 

double  danger,  came  up  to  breathe  because  he 
must,  and  could  have  yelled  for  joy,  if  he  had  had 
breath  enough  m  his  lungs,  to  see  that  either 
Roger  or  Maxime  was  being  pulled  into  the 
yacht's  boat,  while  a  second  head  bobbed  on  the 
water  a  couple  of  yards  away.  The  air  cracked 
with  revolver-shots,  but  George  was  not  the 
target  now:  the  eyes  of  the  surveillants  were  for 
the  fugitives  nearest  safety.  Whether  Roger  or 
Dalahaide  were  hit,  George  could  not  tell,  but 
he  kept  his  head  above  water  in  sheer  self- 
forgetfulness  until  both  had  been  hauled  on 
board.  Then  he  dived  again,  and  when  he 
rose  to  the  surface  he  was  close  to  the  boat. 
It  was  his  turn  to  be  helped  over  the  side  and 
to  become  a  target.  Something  whizzed  past 
his  ear,  leaving  it  hot  and  wet,  and  he  had  a 
sudden  burning  pain  in  his  left  arm;  but  nothing 
mattered,  for  there  were  Roger  and  Maxime, 
and  he  was  beside  them.  The  rowers  had  set 
to  their  work  with  a  will  once  more,  not  to  reach 
the  Bella  Cuba  with  the  best  speed,  but  to  dodge 
from  between  her  guns  and  the  canot.  Once  she 
could  let  her  cannon  speak,  the  canot  was  no 


234       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

longer  to  be  feared.  Brave  as  the  Frenchmen 
were,  clearly  as  they  had  right  on  their  side, 
from  their  point  of  view,  they  would  have  to 
recognize  that  they  were  helpless,  that  the  rest 
of  the  battle  was  to  the  strong. 

A  moment  more,  and  one  of  the  little  cannon 
roared  a  warning.  She  did  not  try  to  hit  the 
canot;  the  message  she  sent  was  but  to  say, 
"Hands  off,  or  take  the  consequences."  And  the 
men  of  the  canot  understood.  Not  only  did  they 
cease  firing,  but  began  to  retire  with  leisurely 
dignity  toward  the  point  which  hid  the  disabled 
prison  boat. 

Now,  suddenly,  when  all  such  peril  was  over, 
the  thought  of  that  slimy,  cold  touch  on  his  flesh, 
and  what  it  had  meant,  turned  George  Trent  sick. 
He  did  not  see  how  he  or  his  friends  had  escaped 
the  horror.  If  it  were  to  come  again  he  was  sure 
that  escape  would  be  impossible;  and  somehow 
he  knew,  as  if  by  prevision,  that  there  would  be 
nights  so  long  as  he  lived  when  he  would  dream 
of  that  touch  in  the  water,  and  wrench  himself 
awake,  with  sweat  on  his  forehead  and  his  hands 
damp. 


*'ONCE  ON  BOARD  THE  LUGGER"     «35 

"Roger,  are  you  all  right,  and  Dalahaide, 
too  ?"  he  asked,  wondering  at  the  weight  he  felt 
on  his  chest  and  the  effort  it  was  to  speak. 

"Thanks  to  Dalahaide,  I  am  all  right," 
Roger  answered.  "If  it  hadn't  been  for  his 
quickness  and  presence  of  mind,  twice  I  should 
have  been  nabbed  by  a  shark.  Weak  as  he 
was,  he  pulled  me  down  for  a  dive  that  I  should 
have  been  too  dazed  to  think  of  without  him." 

"I  have  cause  enough  to  know  something  of 
these  waters  and  their  danger,"  Maxime  said 
slowly,  as  if  he  too  found  it  an  effort  to  speak. 
"I  was  weak,  yes,  but  strength  comes  of  great 
need,  I  suppose;  and  already  I  owed  you  so 
much.  I  had  to  think  and  act  quickly;  besides, 
it  was  for  myself  too." 

"Thank  heaven  it's  all  over,"  exclaimed 
Roger,  with  a  great  sigh.  "We've  a  good 
doctor  on  board.  He'll  know  how  to  make  you 
fit  once  we  have  you  there.  And  that  will  be 
shortly  now.  See,  here's  the  yacht!  In  ten 
minutes  you'll  be  in  the  stateroom  that  has  been 
ready  for  you  ever  since  we  left  Mentone  a  few 
hundred  years  ago,  bound  for  New  Caledonia." 


236       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

*'Yes,  your  passage  was  engaged  from  the 
first,"  chuckled  George,  with  an  odd  little  catch 
in  his  voice  that  would  have  been  hysterical  if  he 
had  been  a  woman.  "And  I'll  bet  something 
you'll  like  your  quarters.  Two  lovely  ladies  took 
a  lot  of  trouble  with  them  —  your  sister  and 
mine." 

"I  don't  know  what  to  say,  or  how  to  thank 
you,"  stammered  Maxime.  "It  goes  so  far 
beyond  words." 

"Just  try  to  live  your  thanks,  if  you  think 
they're  worth  while.  I  reckon  that's  what  our 
two  sisters  would  say  on  the  subject.  Don't  let 
there  be  any  more  talk  about  dying  like  there  was 
to-day,  that's  all,  you  know.  And  oh,  by  Jove! 
doesn't  it  feel  queer  to  be  gabbling  this  way, 
when  you  remember  what  we've  just  come  out 
of  —  those  grinning  brutes  down  there,  with 
their  red  mouths  in  their  white  shirt  fronts, 
so  to  speak.  Ugh!  I  don't  want  to  think 
of  it,  but  I'm  hanged  if  I  can  help  it.  I  say, 
did  those  Johnnies'  revolvers  do  any  damage 
here?" 

"Dalahaide  got  a  bullet  in  his  shoulder,  as  if 


"ONCE  ON  BOARD  THE  LUGGER"  237 

the  wound  in  his  back  wasn't  enough  to  remem- 
ber the  place  by,'*  said  Roger.  "He  says  it's 
nothing,  and  I  hope  that's  the  truth"  (he  actu- 
ally did  hope  it  now,  at  least  for  the  moment) ; 
**as  for  me,  I  believe  they've  saved  the  yacht's 
barber  a  little  trouble  in  cutting  my  hair  on  the 
left  side,  that's  all;  luckily  no  harm  done  to  any 
of  our  men." 

All  these  scraps  of  conversation  had  been  flung 
backward  and  forward  inside  five  minutes. 
Then  they  were  at  the  yacht's  side.  Maxime, 
forced  to  yield  to  his  own  weakness  in  the  re- 
action now,  was  being  helped  on  board,  the 
others  following. 

A  slim,  white  figure,  ethereal  and  spirit-like  in 
the  sheen  of  the  moon,  was  waiting  to  give  them 
welcome.  Virginia  stood  on  deck,  weeping  and 
laughing.  Dr.  Grayle  by  her  side. 

"Thank  heaven!  Thank  heaven!"  she 
sobbed  at  sight  of  Maxime.  The  cry  was  for 
him,  the  look,  the  tears,  the  clasped  hands,  all 
for  him.  Roger  and  George  came  together  for 
her  in  a  second  thought,  and  Roger  knew;  though 
he  was  not  surprised,  because  he  had  guessed 


238       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

her  secret,  such  joy  of  success  as  even  he,  being 
a  man,  had  felt,  was  blotted  out  for  him. 


Down  below,  locked  into  their  staterooms, 
Lady  Gardiner  and  the  Countess  de  Mattos  had 
passed  a  strange  and  terrible  hour,  each  in  a 
differtnt  way. 

To  Kate  there  was  little  mystery,  though 
much  fear.  She  had  sulkily  shut  herself  up,  and, 
not  dreaming  what  was  appointed  for  the  night, 
had  finally  dropped  asleep,  while  meditating 
reprisals  for  the  bad  treatment  she  had  received 
that  day.  But  though  her  suspicions  had  not 
gone  as  far  as  an  actual  rescue  in  dramatic 
fashion,  with  the  first  shot  from  the  prison  boat 
which  woke  her  from  a  sound  sleep,  she  divined 
what  was  happening.  Bounding  from  her 
berth,  while  hardly  yet  awake,  she  darted  to  her 
porthole,  which  was  wide  open.  It  faced  the 
wrong  way  to  afford  her  a  glimpse  of  what  was 
going  on,  but  she  could  hear  more  firing  at  a 
distance,  doubtless  at  the  prison  on  the  He  Nou, 
the  ringing  of  bells,  and  much  tramping  overhead 


"ONCE  ON  BOARD  THE  LUGGER"  239 

on  the  deck  of  the  yacht.  She  felt  the  throb  of 
the  engine  too,  and  though  the  Bella  Cuba  had 
been  lying  quietly  at  anchor  in  the  harbour 
when  Kate  had  fallen  asleep,  now  she  was  mov- 
ing at  a  rapid  rate  through  the  water,  which 
gurgled  past  her  sides. 

Kate  had  known,  of  course,  that  they  had  not 
come  thousands  of  miles  for  nothing,  and  the 
moment  she  was  certain  that  New  Caledonia  was 
to  be  the  Bella  Cuba's  destination  she  realized 
that  an  attempt  would  be  made  to  save  Maxime 
Dalahaide.  She  had  been  anxious  to  earn  the 
other  half  of  the  Marchese  Loria's  money,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  pay  Virginia  and  George 
Trent  for  their  secretiveness,  by  letting  Loria 
hear  of  their  arrival,  at  least,  even  if  she  could 
tell  him  no  more.  That  desire  had  been 
thwarted  by  Dr.  Grayle,  but  Kate  considered 
the  act  merely  postponed.  Next  time  they 
coaled  —  since  they  must  coal  somewhere  before 
long  —  she  would  certainly  find  a  way  of  wiring 
to  Loria,  and  probably  she  would  have  something 
much  more  definite  to  tell  him,  that  was  all. 
Exactly  what  that  "something"  might  be,  had 


240       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

been  rather  vague  in  her  mind;  but  she 
had  thought  that  Virginia,  George,  and  Roger 
would  most  likely  have  found  means  to  com- 
municate with  Dalahaide  and  give  him  hope 
for  the  future;  perhaps  they  might  even  try  to 
put  in  his  hands  some  means  of  escape,  after 
which  the  Bella  Cuba  would  linger  about  in  these 
waters,  out  of  sight  of  New  Caledonia,  until  he 
either  succeeded  in  getting  away  or  failed  sig- 
nally to  do  so.  This  plan  Kate  had  considered 
not  beyond  the  bounds  of  possibility;  or  (she  had 
told  herself)  Virginia,  who  was  so  enormously, 
absurdly  rich,  might  be  counting  upon  bribing 
some  lesser  prison  authority  to  help  the  convict 
to  escape.  So  daring  a  girl,  sure  of  the  power  of 
beauty  and  wealth,  and  with  millions  of  pounds 
to  play  with,  might  have  conceived  such  a  scheme 
and  have  the  boldness  to  carry  it  out.  She 
could  offer  any  bribe  she  liked,  and  —  every 
man  was  said  to  have  his  price.  It  was  conceiv- 
able now  to  Kate  that  Virginia  and  Madeleine 
Dalahaide  had  had  confidences  together,  and 
that  the  mysterious  locked  stateroom  had  been 
specially  fitted  up  for  the  benefit  of  the  prodigal. 


"ONCE  ON  BOARD  THE  LUGGER"  241 

It  would  be  like  Virginia  to  have  made  such  a 
wild  plan,  and  to  persuade  Roger  Broom 
and  George  Trent  to  aid  her  in  carrying  it  out; 
yet  Kate  had  not  guessed  to  what  desperate 
lengths  they  would  be  ready  to  go.  She  had 
forgotten  about  the  yacht's  cannon;  but  when 
she  heard  the  shot  from  the  French  boat  she 
suddenly  remembered  them,  and  wondered, 
in  great  terror,  whether  they  would  be  put 
to  use.  She  realized  that  the  trio  meant  to 
stop  at  nothing  to  gain  their  end  and  that 
this  end  was  to  have  Maxime  Dalahaide 
out  of  prison  at  any  cost  to  themselves  and 
others. 

Into  the  midst  of  her  confused  deductions 
broke  the  yell  of  a  shot  from  one  of  the  yacht's 
guns.  It  was  as  if  the  Bella  Cuba  were  alive 
and  had  given  a  tiger-spring  out  of  the  water. 
Kate  shrieked  with  fear,  and  staggered  away 
from  the  porthole.  Her  first  thought  was  to 
run  out  of  the  stateroom  and  seek  refuge  some- 
where —  anywhere.  But,  with  her  hand  on 
the  bolt  with  which  she  had  fastened  the  door, 
she  realized  that  she  was  as  safe  where  she 


242       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

was  as  she  could  be  elsewhere,  in  the  dreadful 
circumstances  —  perhaps  safer.  But  she  was  in 
deadly  terror.  As  a  roar  from  the  French  boat 
was  answered  by  another  roar  from  the  yacht, 
which  again  shivered  and  leaped  like  a  wounded 
thing,  her  knees  gave  way  under  her,  and  she 
half  fell,  half  crouched  on  the  floor  of  the  state- 
room, shuddering  and  moaning.  The  danger 
seemed  as  appalling,  as  hopeless  to  escape  from, 
as  an  earthquake  which,  go  where  you  would, 
might  tear  asunder  the  ground  under  your  feet 
and  bury  you  alive. 

It  was  clear  that  the  Bella  Cuba  and  the 
strange,  ugly-looking  steamboat  she  had  seen  in 
the  harbour,  with  its  two  unmasked  cannon,  were 
waging  fierce  war  upon  one  another.  For  all 
that  Lady  Gardiner  knew,  Dalahaide  was 
already  on  board,  and  the  prison  boat  was  giv- 
ing chase;  yet  that  could  not  be  true,  surely, 
for  suddenly  the  yacht's  engines  ceased  to  move ; 
it  was  as  if  her  heart  had  stopped  beating. 
Had  the  Bella  Cuba  been  struck.'^  Was  she 
sinking  .P  Even  if  not,  one  of  those  horrible 
cannon-balls    might    come    crashing    into  the 


"ONCE  ON  BOARD  THE  LUGGER"  243 

yacht's  side  at  any  moment,  and  every  one  on 
board  might  be  instantly  killed. 

Kate  knew  not  what  to  do;  whether  to  remain 
where  she  was,  or  to  crawl  out  into  the  cabin 
and  try  to  find  some  one  —  even  the  hateful 
doctor  —  who  would  tell  her  how  great  the 
danger  was,  and  what  one  must  do  to  be  saved 
from  it.  She  forgot  all  about  Loria,  and  Dala- 
haide,  and  her  many  grievances,  and  only  knew 
that  she  wished  to  be  spared  from  death,  no 
matter  whose  schemes  failed  or  succeeded,  or 
who  else  lived  or  died. 

The  Countess  de  Mattos  had  not  been  asleep. 
Her  headache,  perhaps,  had  kept  her  nerves  at 
high  tension,  and  made  rest  impossible.  As 
she  had  confessed  to  Virginia  early  that  morn- 
ing, on  discovering  the  name  of  the  next  landing- 
place,  she  did  not  like  New  Caledonia.  The 
thought  of  the  place,  and  the  secrets  it  must  hold, 
oppressed  her.  She  wondered,  with  a  kind  of 
disagreeable  fascination  which  invariably  forced 
her  weary  mind  back  to  the  same  subject, 
whether  the  convicts'  life  was  very  terrible; 
whether  they  lived  long  in  this  land  of  exile. 


244       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

or  whether  they  were  notoriously  short-lived. 
The  climate  must  be  trying,  and  then  there 
were  countless  hardships  to  endure — hardships 
which  must  be  less  bearable  to  those  who  had 
known  luxury  and  refinements.  She  did  not 
like  to  dwell  upon  anything  that  was  painful 
or  even  sordid;  and  when  memory  persisted  in 
dragging  before  her  reluctant  eyes  the  dead 
body  of  any  particularly  hateful  scene  in  her 
past,  as  a  cat  will  sometimes  obstinately  lay 
before  its  master  a  rat  it  has  mangled,  she  was 
in  the  habit  of  dulling  her  sensibility  by  drinking 
a  little  absinthe  in  which  some  chlorodyne  had 
been  dropped. 

When  she  travelled,  she  always  carried  two  or 
three  bottles  of  the  liquor  with  her,  wrapped  in 
laces  and  cambric,  in  her  luggage,  for  she  had 
grown  used  to  it,  and  could  hardly  support  life 
without  its  soothing  influence  now.  She  was 
careful  not  to  take  too  much,  however,  for  she 
worshipped  her  own  beauty;  and  absinthe  was 
an  enemy  to  a  woman's  complexion. 

She  felt  to-night,  lying  in  the  harbour  of 
Noumea,  as  she  had  felt  sometimes  during  a 


"ONCE  ON  BOARD  THE  LUGGER"  245 

furious  sirocco  in  Sicily  —  restless,  unnerved, 
fearful  of  some  vague  evil,  though  common  sense 
assured  her  that  nothing  of  the  kind  she  dimly 
pictured  could  possibly  happen.  She  remem- 
bered uncomfortable  things  more  vividly  and 
painfully  than  usual,  too;  and,  at  last,  she  could 
deny  herself  the  wished-for  solace  no  longer. 
She  rose  from  her  berth,  trailing  exquisite  silk 
and  lace  (for  the  woman  must  always  frame 
her  beauty  worthily,  even  for  her  own  eyes 
alone),  poured  out  half  a  glass  of  absinthe, 
dropped  in  her  allowance  of  the  drug,  added 
water,  till  the  mixture  looked  like  liquid  opal,  and 
sipped  the  beverage  with  a  kind  of  dainty  greed. 

In  a  few  minutes  she  had  ceased  to  care 
whether  the  Bella  Cvha  lay  in  the  harbour  of 
Noumea  or  off  Sydney  Heads.  What  did  it 
matter.^    What  harm  could  come.^ 

Presently,  lying  in  her  berth,  dreamily  staring 
out  at  the  moonlight  through  the  open  porthole, 
her  lovely  arms  pillowing  her  head,  the  Countess 
became  aware  that  the  yacht  was  moving.  So 
they  were  getting  out  to  sea  again,  she  told  her- 
self.    A  little  while  ago  she  would  have  been 


^24^       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

delighted,  as  if  at  an  escape,  because,  as  she 
had  said,  Noumea  was  hateful,  and  no  place  for 
pleasure-seekers.  But  now  that  the  absinthe  and 
chlorodyne  soothed  her  nerves  she  was  com- 
paratively indifferent  whether  they  stopped  or 
steamed  away.  Nothing  unpleasant  had  hap- 
pened. Of  course  not;  why  should  it.^  She 
had  racked  her  nerves,  and  given  herself  a  head- 
ache all  in  vain.  Still,  it  was  good  to  know 
that  she  would  see  no  more  of  that  terrible  land 
of  beauty  and  despair. 

She  shut  her  eyes  comfortably,  and  was  on  the 
way  to  the  more  welcome  land  of  sleep  when  the 
boom  of  the  gun,  which  had  wakened  Lady 
Gardiner,  roused  her  from  her  lotus  mood  of  soft 
forgetfulness  —  the  greatest  joy  which  she  could 
ever  know. 

Her  brain  was  dazed  with  the  liquor  and  the 
drug  she  had  taken,  and  she  was  utterly  unable 
to  comprehend  the  tumult  and  confusion  which 
followed. 

Kate  Gardiner  had  a  clue  to  the  mystery 
which  the  Countess  de  Mattos  did  not  possess. 
The  Portuguese  beauty  had  no  means  of  guessing 


"ONCE  ON  BOARD  THE  LUGGER"  247 
what  had  brought  the  Bella  Cuba  to  Noumea. 
She  had  never  heard  any  one  on  board  speak 
the  name  of  Dalahaide,  or  that  of  any  convict 
imprisoned  at  New  Caledonia,  and  the  firing 
between  the  yacht  and  the  French  boat  suggested 
nothing  to  her  but  horror. 

She,  too,  was  afraid,  half-stunned  with  fear, 
and  she  was  angry  with  herself  now  for  having 
taken  the  absinthe  and  chlorodyne,  because  they 
prevented  her  from  thinking  clearly  —  the  very 
thing  which,  a  short  time  ago,  she  had  wished 
not  to  do.  At  first  she  lay  still,  burying  her  head 
in  the  pillows;  then  she  murmured  prayers  to 
more  than  one  saint,  for  she  was  an  ardent 
Catholic;  and  at  last,  unable  to  bear  the  sus- 
pense and  isolation  any  longer,  she  threw  open 
the  stateroom  door  and  ran  out  into  the  cabin. 

No  one  was  there;  but  above  the  sound  of 
trampling  overhead  she  thought  she  could 
distinguish  voices,  and  Virginia  Beverly's  was 
among  them.  If  Virginia  were  on  deck,  the 
Countess  said  in  her  mind,  it  would  be  well  for 
her  to  be  there  too. 


CHAPTER  XI 

Virginia's  great  moment 

SHE  went  up  on  deck,  moving  dazedly,  with 
a  strange  sense  of  unrealty  upon  her,  as  if 
she  had  somehow  wandered  into  a  cold,  dim 
world  of  dreams. 

The  firing  had  ceased,  and  the  yacht  was  no 
longer  in  motion.  The  confused  whirlwind  of 
brain-shaking  events  which  revolved  in  her 
memory  might  now  have  been  a  part  of  the 
dream  in  which  she  was  still  entangled.  The 
Countess  de  Mattos's  beautiful  eyes  swept  the 
moon-drenched  scene  for  enlightenment,  but 
none  came. 

They  were  not  now  in  the  harbour,  that  alone 
was  clear;  but  land  was  close,  and  black  horns 
of  rock  stood  up  out  of  the  shining  water  as  if 
they  had  broken  through  a  great  sheet  of  looking- 
glass.  Across  this  bright,  mirror-like  surface  a 
small  boat  was  being  quickly  rowed   toward 

248 


VIRGINIA'S  GREAT  MOMENT  249 

the  yacht.  It  was  very  near  now,  and  several  dark 
figures  could  be  distinguished  in  it  besides  those 
of  the  four  rowers.  Another  boat,  much  larger, 
with  more  than  twice  the  number  of  oars,  swiftly 
risiiig  and  falling,  was  hurrying  away  in  the  direc- 
tion of  a  high,  rocky  point  on  the  island  itself. 

A  chill  premonition  of  evil  fell  upon  the 
woman's  soul.  It  was  like  a  heavy  nightmare 
weight  that  might  only  be  felt,  not  seen,  and 
could  not  be  shaken  off.  But  the  Coimtess  de 
Mattos  had  experienced  this  undefinable  misery 
before,  when  the  reaction  came  after  taking  too 
large  a  dose  of  chlorodyne  with  her  "solace." 
She  hoped  that  it  was  merely  this  now  —  that  it 
was  no  real  warning  of  trouble  or  threatening 
danger. 

Virginia  stood  talking  to  Dr.  Grayle  and 
gazing  eagerly  toward  the  advancing  boat. 
The  Countess  de  Mattos  glanced  at  the  two  wist- 
fully, longing  to  go  to  them  and  ask  questions. 
Yet  something  seemed  to  hold  her  back.  It 
was  as  if  a  whisper  in  her  ear  advised  that  there 
were  things  it  was  better  not  to  know.  This 
was  ridiculous,  of  course.     It  was  always  more 


250       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

prudent  to  know  about  disagreeable  things 
before  they  could  happen,  and  then  sometimes 
they  could  be  prevented,  or  at  least  staved  off 
till  one  was  more  prepared  to  grapple  with  them. 
But  all  the  beautiful  woman's  prudence  was  in 
abeyance  to-night.  The  quality  had  not  been 
born  in  her,  but  acquired;  which  can  never  be 
the  same. 

She  felt  weak  and  unnerved,  with  a  great  long- 
ing to  cling  to  some  one  stronger  and  wiser  than 
herself.  But  there  was  no  such  person  at  hand 
for  her.  These  others  had  their  own  interests. 
If  they  really  cared  for  her  at  all  it  was  because 
she  was  ornamental,  a  thing  of  beauty  which  it 
is  pleasant  to  have  within  sight;  and  usually  it 
was  very  convenient  to  the  Countess  de  Mattos 
to  be  considered  thus.  Indeed,  most  of  the 
luxuries  which  she  loved  so  much  more  dearly 
than  the  necessities  of  life  came  through  her 
distinct  value  as  an  ornament.  But  now  what 
was  ordinarily  enough  for  her  failed  to  satisfy. 
She  felt  horribly  alone  in  the  world,  as  if  she 
had  slipped  upon  some  terrible  ledge  of  rock 
overhanging  a  sheer  precipice,  and  there  was  no 


VIRGINL\'S  GREAT  MOMENT  251 

one  —  no  one  on  earth  to  help  her  back  to  safety. 
Tears  of  self-pity  rose  hot  in  her  eyes  as  she 
stood,  not  far  from  Virginia  and  the  doctor, 
hesitating  what  to  do. 

They  were  so  absorbed  in  watching  the 
approach  of  the  boat  that  they  were  unconscious 
of  her  presence,  and  suddenly  it  began  to  fas- 
cinate the  Countess  de  Mattos  also,  as  if  it  were 
one  of  the  discs  which  hypnotists  give  to  their 
patients.  She,  too,  bent  over  the  rail  and  gazed 
at  the  boat  as  the  rowers  brought  it  nearer  and 
nearer,  but  she  could  not  see  the  faces  of  its 
occupants.  For  three  or  four  minutes  she  stood 
thus,  and  then  the  boat  was  under  the  yacht's 
side  and  the  men  were  coming  up  the  ladder. 

The  Countess  moved  nearer  to  Virginia  and 
Dr.  Grayle.  She  no  longer  intended  —  for  the 
moment  at  least  —  to  catechize  them,  but  it 
occurred  to  her  that,  by  merely  standing  within 
earshot  while  the  others  exchanged  questions 
and  answers,  the  mystery  of  this  night's  alarm- 
ing work  would  be  explained  to  her.  Without 
being  seen  by  her  hostess  or  the  little  doctor, 
she  was  so  close  now  that  the  trailing  silk  and 


252       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

lace  of  her  robe  de  chambre  was  blown  by  the 
light  breeze  against  Virginia's  white  dress. 

"Thank  heaven  —  thank  heaven!"  she  heard 
the  girl  exclaim  as  some  one  came  on  board. 
The  pair  in  front  of  her  crowded  so  closely 
toward  this  person  that  she  could  not  see  who  it 
was,  and  could  only  suppose  that  it  must  be 
Sir  Roger  Broom  or  George  Trent  returning 
from  some  strange  adventure.  Then,  suddenly, 
she  saw  the  newcomer's  face,  with  the  moon 
shining  full  upon  it,  chiselling  it  into  the  per- 
fection of  a  marble  masterpiece  of  old,  thrown  up 
by  the  sea  from  some  long  engulfed  palace. 

She  stared,  incredulous,  her  breath  in  abey- 
ance, her  heart  stopped  like  a  jarred  clock. 
Then,  over  Virginia's  shoulder,  a  pair  of  dark 
eyes  found  hers  —  eyes  darkened  with  tragedy 
while  youth  and  joy  should  still  have  shone  in 
their  untroubled  depths. 

Ah,  the  awfulness  of  that  instant,  the  ghastly 
horror  of  it!  Something  in  the  woman's  brain 
seemed  to  snap,  and,  with  a  loud  shriek  that  cut 
the  new-fallen  silence  as  a  jagged  knife-blade  of 
lightning  cuts  the  sky,  she  threw  out  her  hands 


VIRGINIA'S  GREAT  MOMENT  253 

to  shut  away  the  sight  and  fell  backward,  faint- 
ing. Virginia  turned,  and  knew  that  her  great 
moment  had  come. 

•  •••••• 

When  the  Countess  de  Mattos  came  to  herself 
she  awoke  gazing  straight  upward  at  the  stars, 
which  danced  a  strange,  whirling  measure  as  the 
horizon  rose  and  dipped  with  the  swift  forging  of 
the  yacht.  She  was  lying  on  the  deck,  her  head 
supported  on  something  low  and  soft,  and  Dr. 
Grayle  bent  over  her,  kneeling  on  one  knee. 

"All  right  again.?"  he  inquired  cheerfully,  in 
his  blunt  way. 

She  did  not  answer,  for  with  desperate  haste 
she  was  collecting  her  thoughts,  linking  together 
broken  impressions.  An  awful  thing  had  hap- 
pened. What.?^  she  asked  herself.  Then  sud- 
denly the  vision  flashed  back  to  her,  and  she 
shuddered.  Lowering  her  lids,  so  that  the  thick, 
black  fringe  of  lashes  veiled  her  eyes,  she 
glanced  anxiously  about.  Had  it  been  a  vision 
and  no  more,  or  was  it  real,  and  should  she  have 
to  meet  those  accusing  eyes  again.?  As  she 
debated  thus  Virginia  stepped  forward. 


254       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SH.VDOWS 

"I  think,  Countess,  that  you  will  do  now," 
said  Dr.  Grayle.  "There  is  a  wounded  man 
below  who  needs  my  services,  but  refused  them 
until  you  should  have  recovered." 

'*Oh,  go  —  go!"  murmured  his  patient  in 
irritable  weakness. 

The  little  doctor  got  up,  and  as  he  walked 
quickly  away  Virginia  took  his  place. 

"Can  I  do  anything  for  you  ?"  she  asked. 

The  Countess  shook  her  head.  Her  face 
looked  lined  and  haggard,  despite  its  beauty,  in 
the  bleaching  light  of  the  moon,  and  Virginia 
was  almost  sorry  for  her.  She  could  afford  to 
pity  the  woman  now,  she  thought,  for  she  had 
triumphed.  Her  case  was  proved  beyond  all 
doubt,  and  even  Roger,  who  had  heard  the 
scream  of  recognition  and  witnessed  the  fainting 
fit,  could  no  longer  deny  that  the  Countess  de 
Mattos  and  Liane  Devereux  were  one.  Vir- 
ginia would  not  strike  a  blow  at  a  fallen  enemy, 
and,  holding  this  woman  in  the  hollow  of  her 
hand,  as  she  believed  she  did,  she  was  ready  to 
give  such  help  as  could  be  given  without  injuring 
the  cause  she  served. 


VIRGINIA'S  GREAT  MOMENT  255 

"Wouldn't  you  like  to  go  back  to  your  state- 
room?" she  went  on.  "You  have  had  a  great 
shock,    and  " 

The  Countess  sat  up  quickly,  pushing  her  dis- 
ordered hair  away  from  her  eyes.  "I  don't 
know  what  you  mean  by  a  shock,"  she  said, 
"unless  you  refer  to  the  terrible  cannonading. 
That  was  enough,  I  should  think,  to  frighten 
the  bravest.  No  wonder  I  fainted.  And  then, 
seeing  that  ghastly  man,  dressed  like  a  forcat, 
all  dripping  wet,  and  stained  red  with  blood, 
was  the  last  drop  in  the  cup  of  fear.  I  cannot 
think  what  horrors  have  been  happening 
to-night." 

All  Virginia's  pity  was  swept  away.  Her  heart 
hardened  toward  this  tiger- woman. 

"Cannot  you  think.?"  she  echoed  bitterly. 
"Then  I  will  tell  you.  We  have  been  rescuing 
an  innocent  man,  who  for  years  has  suffered 
untold  miseries  for  a  crime  never  committed. 
Thank  heaven  that  his  sufferings  are  ended  at 
last,  for  we  have  him  on  board  this  yacht,  which 
is  carrying  him  away  from  New  Caledonia  at 
about  twenty  knots  an  hour,  and  we  have  the 


256       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

proof  with  us  which  will  establish  his  innocence 
before  many  days  have  passed." 

"It  is  a  crime  for  a  for  cat  to  evade  his  prison  — 
a  crime  to  aid  him,"  cried  the  Countess. 

"We  are  not  afraid  of  the  punishment,"  said 
Virginia,  hot,  indignant  blood  springing  to  her 
cheeks.  "  We  are  ready  to  face  the  consequences 
of  our  own  actions." 

The  emphasis  was  an  accusation,  but  the 
Countess  de  Mattos  did  not  wince  under  the 
lash.  Even  a  coward  may  be  brave  in  a  hand- 
to-hand  fight  for  life;  and  it  was  only  physically 
that  she  was  a  coward. 

"You  are  courageous,"  she  said,  almost 
wholly  mistress  of  herself  now,  "and,  of  course, 
you  know  your  own  affairs  best,  dear  girl.  But 
I  am  not  so  brave.  This  awful  night  has  tried 
me  severely,  and  has  come  near  to  spoiling  our  so 
pleasant  trip.  It  has  sickened  me  of  the  sea  and 
of  yachting.  I  shall  beg  to  be  landed  as  soon  as 
convenient  to  you." 

"It  will  be  convenient  to  us  when  you  have 
confessed  everything  in  writing,"  Virginia  flung 
at  her,  stung  into  mercilessness  by  the  woman's 


VIRGINIA'S  GREAT  MOMENT  257 

brazen  defiance.  "Then,  and  not  before,  you 
may  leave  this  yacht." 

The  Countess  de  Mattos  arose  from  her  lowly 
place  as  gracefully  and  with  as  much  dignity  as 
such  an  act  could  be  performed.  While  she 
sat  on  the  floor  and  Virginia  towered  over  her, 
the  enemy  had  too  much  advantage  of  position. 
The  two  were  of  one  height,  and,  standing,  they 
faced  each  other  like  contending  goddesses. 

"You  speak  in  riddles,"  said  the  elder  woman. 

"Riddles  to  which  you  have  the  key." 

"I  do  not  know  what  you  mean,  except  that 
it  seems  to  me  it  is  your  intention  to  be  insolent." 

"In  your  code,  perhaps,  honesty  is  insolence. 
But  I  do  not  wish  to  forget  that,  in  a  way,  you 
are  my  guest.  I  asked  you  to  come  for  a  pur- 
pose, I  admit;   yet " 

"Ah!  you  admit  that.  Possibly  you  will  con- 
descend to  inform  me  what  your  purpose  was?" 

"My  purpose  was  to  make  assurance  doubly 
sure.     To-night  I  have  done  this." 

"Evidently  you  do  not  wish  me  to  understand 
you." 

"Say,  rather,  you  do  not  wish  to  understand 


258       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

me.  I  think  you  must  do  so,  in  spite  of  yourself; 
but  lest  you  should  not,  I  will  tell  you.  I  sus- 
pected that  you  were  the  woman  whom  Maxime 
Dalahaide  was  accused  of  murdering.  Now  I 
know  that  you  are  not  the  Countess  de  Mattos, 
but  Liane  Devereux!" 

The  woman's  green-gray  eyes  were  like  steel 
in  the  moonlight.  "Maxime  Dalahaide;  Liane 
Devereux,'*  she  slowly  repeated.  "I  never 
heard  these  names." 

Virginia  was  struck  dumb  by  the  other's 
effrontery,  almost  frightened  by  it.  If  this 
terrible  creature  withdrew  into  a  brazen  fortress 
of  lies,  who  could  tell  how  long  a  siege  she  might 
be  able  to  withstand  ?  The  girl  had  been  aston- 
ished and  dismayed  in  the  morning,  when  the 
first  sally  of  the  attack  had  failed ;  but  then  her 
strongest  forces,  her  most  deadly  weapons,  had 
been  still  in  reserve.  Now  they  had  been  brought 
against  the  enemy's  defenses  and  —  the  walls 
had  not  fallen;  there  was  no  sign  of  capitulation. 
A  cold  misgiving  began  to  stir  in  Virginia's 
mind.  Would  it  mean  failure  if  the  Countess 
de  Mattos  obstinately  refused  to  tell  the  truth  ? 


VIRGINIA'S  GREAT  MOMENT  259 

After  all,  she  was  only  a  girl,  opposed  to  a 
woman  whose  varied  experience  of  thirty  years 
or  more  had  endowed  her  with  infinite  resource. 
Virginia's  stricken  silence  gave  the  other  a  new 
advantage. 

"As  you  have  said  yourself,"  icily  began  the 
Countess  once  more,  "you  are  my  hostess.  You 
flattered  me;  you  made  me  think  that  you  were 
my  friend;  you  asked  me  on  board  your  yacht, 
and  I  came,  trustingly,  ignorant  that,  under  some 
wild  mistake  which  even  now  I  do  not  compre- 
hend, you  plotted  my  betrayal.  Why,  it  was  a 
Judas  act!'* 

"If  I  did  evil,  I  did  it  that  good  might  come," 
said  poor  Virginia.  "And  it  shall  come.  You 
are  Liane  Devereux.  You  were  guilty  of  the 
*  Judas  act.'  Maxime  Dalahaide  loved  you ;  and 
with  what  motive  I  don't  yet  know,  but  mean  to 
know,  you  betrayed  him  to  a  fate  worse  than 
death.  For  that  you  deserve  anjrthing.  Yes,  I 
kidnapped  you.  That's  what  Roger  called  it, 
and  I  don't  repent  now.  You  are  here  on  this 
yacht  with  Maxime  Dalahaide,  and  we  are  on 
the  open  sea.     Unless  you  jump  overboard,  you 


260       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

cannot  get  away  from  your  atonement.  Atone- 
ment —  that  is  the  word.  Oh,  woman,  woman 
—  if  you  are  a  woman  and  not  a  stone,  think 
what  atonement  would  mean  for  you!  You 
must  have  had  terrible  moments,  living  with 
remembrances  like  yours  —  a  man  who  loved 
you  sent  to  a  living  grave.  Now  it  is  in  your 
power  to  make  up  to  him  —  ever  so  little,  per- 
haps, but  a  thousand  times  better  than  nothing  — 
for  the  wrong  you  did.  Do  this  —  do  it,  and  be 
thankful  all  the  rest  of  your  life  for  the  blessed 
chance  which  heaven  has  sent  you.'* 

The  Countess  laughed.  "You  change  your 
tone  suddenly  —  from  threats  to  an  appeal. 
You  would  make  quite  a  good  preacher,  but  your 
eloquence  can  have  no  effect  on  my  conscience, 
as  I  have  not  the  remotest  idea  what  you  are 
talking  about.  I  had  let  myself  grow  fond  of 
you,  and  I  was  grateful  for  all  these  lazy,  pleasant 
weeks,  and  for  the  money  you  lent  me;  but  now 
that  I  know  what  was  underneath  your  seeming 
kindness  I  am  no  more  grateful,  and  I  shall  do 
my  best  to  punish  you  for  the  wicked  trick  you 
have  played  upon  me.    As  for  attempting  to 


VIRGINIA'S  GREAT  MOMENT  261 

prove  that  I  am  —  what  name  did  you  give  the 
woman  ? — well,  anybody  except  myself,  you  will 
find  it  impossible.  I  have  powerful  friends  who 
would  travel  far  to  save  me  from  any  trouble. 
You  cannot  keep  me  a  prisoner  on  board  this 
yacht.  You  must  touch  again  at  land  before 
long,  and  then  I  shall  go  away  and  tell  every 
one  what  has  happened  on  your  Bella  Cuba." 

"We  shall  see,"  said  Virginia. 

"We  shall  see,"  echoed  the  Countess.  "And 
now  I  am  going  to  my  stateroom.  Perhaps  I 
may  hope  to  be  free  from  persecution  there." 

She  swept  away,  looking  gorgeously  beautiful, 
and  as  proud  as  a  queen  bent  on  holding  her 
crown  against  the  people's  will. 

Virginia  stood  still,  watching  her;  and  when 
the  tall,  stately  figure  had  disappeared,  a  crush- 
ing sense  of  defeat  fell  upon  the  girl. 

Only  a  few  moments  ago,  as  time  counted,  she 
had  felt  that,  with  Maxime  Dalahaide*s  rescue, 
she  had  every  wish  of  her  heart  fulfilled.  But 
now  she  saw  the  position  of  affairs  with  changed 
eyes.  It  was  as  different  as  a  flower-decked  ball- 
room seen  by  the  light  of  a  thousand  glittering 


262       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

candles,  and  again  by  sunrise  when  the  candles 
had  burnt  down  and  the  flowers  faded. 

Maxime  was  out  of  prison ;  there  was  that,  at 
all  events,  to  be  thankful  for,  and  there  was 
nothing  at  New  Caledonia  which  could  even 
attempt  to  give  chase  to  the  wicked  little  Bella 
Cuba.  Nevertheless,  the  French  Government 
had  a  long  arm,  and  would  not  quietly  let  a  con- 
vict sentenced  for  life  be  snatched  away  without 
making  a  grab  to  get  him  back  again.  Virginia 
had  known  this  from  the  first,  but  when  Roger 
had  pointed  the  fact  out  to  her  as  one  of  the 
difficulties  to  be  encountered,  she  had  said  in 
the  beginning:  *'If  we  have  the  luck  to  rescue 
him  we  shall  have  the  luck  to  hide  him,"  and 
afterward,  when  she  had  seen  the  Countess 
de  Mattos  at  Cairo,  she  had  amended  the  proph- 
ecy by  saying:  *'If  they  catch  us  we  shall  be 
able  to  prove  his  innocence." 

It  had  all  seemed  very  simple,  and  she  had  been 
impatient  with  Roger  for  bringing  up  so  many 
discouraging  objections  to  her  impulsively  formed 
plans.  He  had  gone  in  with  them  at  last,  with- 
out, however,  pretending  to  be  convinced,  and 


VIRGINIA'S  GREAT  MOMENT  263 

she  had  bribed  him  with  a  virtual  promise  of 
marriage.  He  had  done  all  that  she  had  asked  of 
him,  and  more ;  and  she  would  have  to  keep  her 
promise,  but — had  she  accomplished  enough  that 
was  good  for  Maxime,  to  pay  for  the  sacrifice? 
It  would  be  a  sacrifice  —  a  greater  one  than  she 
had  known  at  first,  greater  than,  somehow,  she 
had  realized  until  to-day.  She  must  pay  the 
price;   and  Maxime  —  what  of  him  ? 

If  his  innocence  could  not  be  proved,  through 
the  dead  woman  miraculously  come  alive,  he 
could  never,  at  best,  go  back  to  France;  and  as 
the  crime  of  which  he  was  accused  came  under 
the  extradition  treaty,  he  would  be  safe  nowhere. 
He  must  —  as  he  himself  had  said  —  lead  "  a 
hunted  life,"  wherever  he  might  be.  Neither 
money,  nor  influence,  nor  yearning  sister-love, 
nor  —  the  love  of  friends  who  would  give  their 
heart's  blood  to  save  him,  could  shield  Maxime 
Dalahaide  from  the  sword  of  Damocles,  ever 
suspended,  ever  ready  to  fall. 

•  •••••• 

When  the  Marchese  Loria  received  Lady 
Gardiner's    telegram    from    Sydney,    he    was 


264       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

stunned.  "Leaving  here  to-morrow,"  the  mes- 
sage ran;   "destination  unknown." 

Unknown  to  her  the  destination  might  be,  but 
it  was  not  unknown  to  him.  He  was  almost  as 
sure  that  the  Bella  Cuba  was  bound  for  New 
Caledonia,  as  if  Dr.  Grayle  had  allowed  Kate 
Gardiner  to  send  her  desired  word  from  prison- 
land;  and  although  he  had  constantly  assured 
himself  that  if  Virginia  did  go  there  it  could  do 
no  harm,  now  that  he  was  morally  certain  she 
would  go,  he  quivered  with  vague  apprehension. 

At  first,  he  could  not  force  his  mind  to  con- 
centrate itself  upon  the  intricacies  of  the  situation. 
He  walked  up  and  down  his  room,  like  a  caged 
animal,  trying  to  think  how,  if  it  were  by  moving 
heaven  and  earth,  he  could  prevent  Virginia 
Beverly  and  the  convict  Max  Dalahaide  from 
coming  together.  Then,  with  the  thought  that 
they  might  meet  seething  in  his  head,  he  would 
stop  abruptly  and  say  to  himself,  as  he  had  said 
so  often  before:  "Nonsense;  you  are  a  fool. 
They  cannot  come  together.  There  is  everything 
against  it."  Still,  the  root  of  fear  was  there, 
and  grew  again  as  soon  as  burned  away. 


VIRGINIA'S  GREAT  MOMENT  265 

If  he  chose,  he  might  send  a  warning  to  the 
prison  authorities  at  New  Caledonia.  He  could 
say  that  the  Bella  Cuba  was  a  suspicious  craft, 
and  ought  not  to  be  allowed  in  the  harbour  for  a 
single  hour.  But  to  do  this,  he  would  be 
obliged  either  to  proceed  to  Paris  and  give  satis- 
factory reasons  why  such  proceedings  should  be 
taken,  or  wire  the  warning  message  himself, 
signing  his  own  name.  No  other  method  would 
be  of  any  avail,  as  the  governor  of  the  prison 
would  pay  no  attention  to  an  anonymous  tele- 
gram, and  there  was  now  no  time  to  write  a 
letter.  He  would  be  obliged  also  to  assert 
positively  that  he  knew  the  Bella  Cubans  errand 
to  be  treacherous;  and,  whether  he  went  to 
Paris,  or  telegraphed,  through  Sydney,  to  New 
Caledonia,  in  either  case  Virginia  was  certain 
to  find  out,  later,  what  he  had  done.  Such 
secrets  could  not  be  successfully  hidden,  and 
she  would  hate  him  for  his  interference.  If  there 
was  little  hope  for  him  now,  there  would  be 
none  then. 

When  his  wits  began  to  work  he  regarded  the 
situation  from  all  points  of  view.    He  admitted 


266       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

the  remote  — extremely  remote — possibility  that 
the  party  on  the  Bella  Cuba  might  actually  con- 
template a  rescue.  He  would  almost  have  been 
ready  to  stake  his  life  that,  if  such  an  attempt 
were  made,  it  would  fail  ignominiously,  with 
disaster  to  all  concerned  —  perhaps  death  to 
more  than  one.  But  —  it  might  succeed.  If  it 
did,  what  would  happen  ? 

They  would  not  dare  to  put  back  to  Sydney 
Heads.  The  yacht  must  be  coaled  and  pro- 
visioned somewhere.  He  consulted  maps,  and 
saw  that  the  most  likely  place  for  the  Bella  Cuba 
to  proceed  on  leaving  New  Caledonia  was 
Samoa.  It  seemed  to  him  that  she  must  go 
there,  in  any  case. 

Loria  did  not  wish  to  appear  as  an  active 
enemy  of  Maxime  Dalahaide's.  It  was  largely 
owing  to  his  efforts  on  the  prisoner's  behalf  that 
Max  had  been  saved  from  the  guillotine,  and  all 
the  Dalahaides  must  have  known  that.  Vir- 
ginia, no  doubt,  knew  it  too.  But  what  was  to 
be  done,  if  he  were  not  to  fling  aside  the  cloak  of 
his  reputation  as  a  friend  of  that  unfortunate 
family?    The   spirit   of   high   romance  ran  in 


VIRGINIA  S   GREAT  MOMENT  267 

Virginia  Beverly's  blood.  She  was  capaMe  of 
marrying  an  escaped  prisoner,  and  sharing  his 
miserable,  hunted  existence.  Such  a  thing  must 
not  be.  Loria  felt  that  it  would  be  less  bearable 
to  lose  her  through  Max  Dalahaide  than  through 
any  other  man.  He  would  rather  see  her  Roger 
Broom's  wife  than  Maxime's,  but  he  had  not  yet 
given  up  all  hope  of  having  her  for  his  own. 

He  would  have  just  time  to  go  to  Samoa  and 
meet  the  Bella  Cuba  there,  if  he  started  at  once. 
The  yacht  would  not  leave  Sydney  Heads  till 
next  day,  according  to  the  news  in  the  telegram. 
Then  it  would  take  her  ten  days  more  to  reach 
New  Caledonia.  There  she  was  sure  to  remain 
for  some  hours,  at  the  very  least.  If  he,  Loria, 
caught  a  certain  "greyhound  of  the  sea"  which 
was  sailing  from  Cherbourg  for  New  York  the 
following  morning,  took  a  fast  express  from 
New  York  for  San  Francisco,  and  then  sailed 
immediately  for  Samoa,  he  could  not  fail  to 
be  in  time  for  the  Bella  Cuba.  But  the  im- 
portant thing  was  to  find  an  excuse  to 
account  for  his  being  there  when  the  Bella 
Cuba  arrived. 


268       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

He  was  not,  luckily  for  his  present  plan,  sup- 
posed to  know  for  what  parts  the  yacht  had  been 
bound;  therefore,  if  he  went  to  Samoa  to  visit  his 
friend  the  French  Consul,  who  had  once  really 
invited  him  to  do  so,  even  Virginia  need  not 
suspect  his  motive.  His  opportune  appearance 
might  pass  merely  as  a  rather  odd  coincidence. 

If  the  Bella  Cuba  took  away  a  fugitive  on 
board,  the  authorities  at  New  Caledonia  would 
not  remain  idle.  They  would  at  once  wire  to 
Sydney  of  a  convict's  escape,  and  the  telegram 
would  be  sent  on  to  Samoa  from  there.  A 
description  of  the  yacht  would  be  given,  and 
inquiries  would  be  made.  But  those  inquiries! 
It  was  because  of  them  that  Loria  was  ready  to 
make  so  strong  an  effort  to  be  there  in  time. 
Without  him,  the  fugitive  from  justice  might  be 
allowed  to  escape,  despite  the  extradition  treaty. 
With  him,  Loria  thought  that  he  saw  a  way  to 
make  the  detention  of  the  prisoner  sure,  and  that 
without  showing  the  hand  he  played. 

He  had  not  lost  many  hours  in  indecision.  As 
soon  as  he  had  made  up  his  mind  what  to  do,  he 
wired  to  find  out  if  there  were  still  a  berth  to  be 


VIRGINIA'S  GREAT  MOMENT  269 

had  on  board  the  New  York  bound  ship  sailing 
from  Cherbourg  next  day.  Even  if  he  had  been 
forced  to  travel  in  the  steerage  he  would  have 
gone,  though  he  keenly  disliked  physical  hard- 
ships; but  he  was  fortunate,  and  obtained  a  good 
cabin  for  himself.  As  soon  as  this  matter  was 
arranged  he  left  for  Cherbourg;  and  next  day, 
on  board  his  ship,  gazing  across  the  tumbled 
gray  expanse  of  sea,  he  thought  of  Virginia  on 
her  little  yacht,  and  smiled.  About  this  time, 
perhaps,  the  Bella  Cuba  was  steaming  boldly 
from  Sydney  Heads,  bound  for  New  Caledonia 
—  on  what  strange,  desperate  errand,  who  could 
tell  ?  The  girl's  heart  was  beating  high  with 
hope,  no  doubt.  How  little  she  guessed  that, 
half  across  the  world,  a  man  was  setting  forth  to 
defeat  her  plans,  even  if  they  attained  success! 


CHAPTER  XII 

STAND   AND    DELIVER 

THE  Marchese  Loria  had  always  been  lucky 
in  games  of  chance.  In  this  biggest 
game  of  all  Fortune  still  stood  behind  him  and, 
with  a  guiding  finger,  pointed  out  the  cards 
to  play. 

There  were  no  delays  in  his  programme.  His 
ship  arrived  in  port  precisely  at  the  appointed 
hour.  He  was  able  to  go  on  immediately  to 
San  Francisco.  There  he  was  just  in  time  to 
catch  a  boat  for  Samoa.  He  wired  to  his 
friend.  Monsieur  de  Letz,  the  French  Consul, 
that  he  was  coming,  and  received  an  enthus- 
iastic welcome.  The  Consul  was  a  bachelor, 
approaching  middle  age,  was  intensely  bored 
with  the  monotony  of  life  on  an  island  of  the 
Pacific,  and  was  ravished  with  the  chance  of 
entertaining  a  personage  so  brilliant  in  the  great 
far-away  world  as  the   Marchese   Loria.     He 

270 


STAND  AND  DELIVER  271 

had  a  charming  house,  and  a  good  cook;  some 
wine  also,  and  cigars  of  the  best.  Loria  arrived 
at  dinner-time,  and  afterward,  smoking  and 
talking  in  the  moonlight  on  a  broad  verandah, 
the  guest  led  up  to  the  question  he  was  half 
dying  to  ask. 

"Have  you  heard  any  exciting  news  lately?" 
he  airily  inquired,  in  a  tone  that  hovered  be- 
tween pleasantry  and  mystery. 

"Does  one  ever  hear  exciting  news  in  this 
place .'^"  groaned  the  French  Consul.     "Noth- 
ing has  happened  for  years.     Nothing  is  ever 
likely  to  happen  again  now  that  we  have  become 
so  dull  and  peaceful  here." 
"No  news  of  another  visitor.?" 
"Another  visitor.?" 
"A  gentleman  from  New  Caledonia." 
"Mon  Dieu!    How  did  you  know  that.?" 
"Is  it  then  so  difficult  to  know,  mon  ami?''' 
"One  hopes  so.     It  is  not  good  that  these 
things  should  leak  out  and  reach  the  public  ear. 
The  information  is  very  private.     The  author- 
ities at  home  and  abroad  do  all  they  can  to  keep 
it  dark,  and  yet  it  seems " 


272       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"My  ear  isn't  exactly  the  *  public  ear/  as 
I'll  presently  explain.  But  it  is  a  fact,  then, 
that  a  convict  has  escaped  from  the  He  Nou, 
and  you  have  got  word  that  he  is  likely  to  turn 
up  here  on  board  a  steam  yacht  ?" 

"It  is  a  fact.  I  see  you  have  the  whole  story. 
But  how  did  you  get  it .?" 

"I'll  tell  you  that  later.  First,  just  a  question 
or  two,  if  you  don't  mind,  for  I  happen  to  be 
interested  in  the  affair.  How  long  ago  did  the 
fellow  get  away — or  rather,  when  may  the  yacht, 
the  Bella  Cuba,  be  expected  here,  if  at  all  ?" 

"She  might  come  in  to-morrow." 

Loria  gave  a  long  sigh.  He  was  lying  back  in 
a  big  easy-chair  and  sending  out  ring  after  ring 
of  blue  smoke,  which  he  watched,  as  they  dis- 
appeared, with  half-shut  eyes.  One  would  have 
fancied  him  the  embodiment  of  happy  lazi- 
ness, unless  one  had  chanced  to  notice  the 
tension  of  the  fingers  which  grasped  an  arm 
of  the  chair. 

"What  will  happen  when  she  does  come  in.''" 

"Oh,  trouble  for  me,  and  nothing  to  show 
for  it." 


STAND  AND  DELIVER  273 

"  What  do  you  mean  ? "  —  with  a  sudden 
change  of  tone. 

"All  I  could  do,  I  have  done;  which  is  to 
inform  the  Government  authorities  here  that  on 
board  the  expected  yacht  is  a  runaway  forcat 
belonging  to  France,  and  ask  that  he  be  arrested 
on  the  yacht's  arrival." 

"And  then.?" 

"Then  a  boat  will  go  out  to  meet  this  Bella 
Cuba  as  she  comes  into  the  harbour,  and  she 
will  be  requested  to  give  up  the  man.  Her 
people  will  say  that  there's  no  such  person  there, 
and  refuse  to  let  any  one  on  board." 

"But  surely  you  could  detain  the  yacht  and 
search.?  The  Bella  Cuba  comes  from  Sydney 
and  New  Caledonia.  If  you  had  reason  to 
believe  that  there  was  a  case  of  plague  on  board, 
for  instance,  the  yacht  would  be  quarantined." 

"Yes;  but  if  she  were  detained,  and  the  con- 
vict found  on  board,  he  couldn't  be  identified 
by  any  one  here.  There  has  been  no  time  for  a 
photograph  to  arrive  from  New  Caledonia.  He 
won't  be  dressed  like  a  convict;  his  hair  will  have 
grown.     I  have  only  the  description  telegraphed. 


274       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

His  friends  will  take  care  he  doesn't  answer  to 
that.  Even  if  the  Government  fellows  here  had 
any  pluck  and  wanted  to  attempt  an  arrest  they 
wouldn't  dare,  with  no  one  to  identify  the  forcat. 
You  see,  the  yacht  will  be  flying  the  English  or 
American  flag,  and  so " 

*'I  can  identify  him." 

"You?  There  15  a  mystery  then.  I  scented 
it  at  your  first  words." 

"Scarcely  a  mystery.  You  have  been  very 
good  to  answer  my  questions.  Answer  one 
more  now,  and  I'll  explain  everything.  Sup- 
pose I  can  put  you  in  the  way  of  identifying  this 
man,  without  chance  of  error;  suppose  I  can 
put  you  up  to  a  trick  for  detaining  the  yacht, 
is  there  any  hope,  if  I  proved  to  you  it  would  be 
for  your  own  advantage,  as  well  as  of  everybody 
else  concerned,  that  you  could  have  the  man 
arrested,  and  sent  back  where  he  deserves  to  be  .^ " 

The  Frenchman  hesitated.  Then  he  said 
slowly,  and  more  gravely  than  he  had  yet  spoken : 
"Yes,  I  think  I  could." 

"That  is  well,  for  he  is  a  fiend  in  human 
shape,  not  fit  to  be  at  large.     Worse  than  all, 


STAND  AND  DELIVER  275 

if  he  escapes,  he  is  almost  certain  to  ruin  the 
life  of  the  woman  I  love,  and  end  my  hopes  of 
winning  her." 

''Mon  Dieu!  We  must  send  him  back  to  New 
Caledonia,  to  spend  the  rest  of  his  life  in  the 
Black  Cell ! "  enthusiastically  exclaimed  De  Letz. 
"But  my  curiosity  is  on  the  stretch.  A  moment 
more  unsatisfied,  and  it  snaps." 

"It  shall  be  satisfied  on  the  instant.  I'll  tell 
you  the  story  in  as  few  words  as  may  be.  You 
remember  the  crime  committed  by  this  fellow  — 
for  of  course  you  know  that,  before  he  was 
Convict  1280,  he  was  Maxime  Dalahaide.?" 

"I  know  that.  I  know  he  is  a  murderer. 
But  it  is  eight  years,  you  must  recollect,  since  I 
was  in  France,  long  before  the  thing  happened. 
I  took  no  particular  interest  in  the  crime,  as  I 
had  never  met  the  Dalahaides.  He  killed  a 
woman :  so  much  I  recall.  You  were  acquainted 
with  him,  I  suppose  ?  " 

"To  my  sorrow.  I  thought  he  was  my  friend. 
He  was  a  traitor.  I  cared  for  his  sister.  She 
loved  and  would  have  married  me;  but  because 
I  knew  too  much  about  him  and  his  evil  ways. 


276       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

he  did  not  want  me  in  the  family.  He  told  the 
girl  and  her  parents  lies.  They  believed  them 
and  sent  me  away.  He  borrowed  huge  sums 
of  money  of  me,  and  never  paid  —  never 
meant  to  pay.  Always  he  was  my  secret  enemy, 
yet  when  the  world  knew  he  was  a  murderer  I 
strained  everv  nerve  to  save  his  life,  for  his 
sister's  sake.  I  did  save  it.  But  for  every 
one  concerned  it  was  better  that  he  should  be 
removed  where  he  could  no  longer  strike  at 
society,  and  I  could  scarcely  regret  his  fate. 
Four  years  passed;  I  loved  again,  this  time  a 
beautiful  American  girl,  the  most  perfect  crea- 
ture I  have  ever  seen,  and  a  great  heiress. 
Madeleine  Dalahaide  had  learned  to  detest  me. 
She  prejudiced  this  girl  against  me,  and,  not 
satisfied  with  that,  excited  her  romantic  nature 
to  sympathy  for  the  murderer,  as  a  victim  of 
injustice.  The  Bella  Cuba  is  this  girl's  yacht  — 
Miss  Beverly's.  She  bought  it  in  the  hope 
of  rescuing  Maxime  Dalahaide,  and  if  he  can 
escape,  there  is  little  doubt  that  she  will  put  her 
hand  in  his,  red  though  it  is  with  a  detestable 
crime.     She  must  be  saved  from  so  ghastly  a 


STAND  AND  DELIVER  277 

fate.  But  if  she  learns  that  she  owes  the  failure 
of  her  plans  to  me,  she  will  hate  me  to  the  death, 
and  I  shall  lose  all  hope  of  her;  whereas,  if  my 
agency  in  this  affair  could  be  hidden  from  her 
knowledge,  the  chances  are  that,  if  I  could  keep 
my  head,  I  might  win  back  her  heart,  after  it  is 
healed  from  its  first  disappointment.  Help 
me  to  accomplish  this,  De  Letz,  for  the  sake  of 
old  times,  and  there's  nothing  you  can  ask  of 
me  that  I  will  not  do.  Italian  though  I  am, 
you  know  that  my  French  cousins  have  power- 
ful political  influence.  They  shall  use  it  to  the 
utmost  for  you,  and  get  you  what  post  you 
please.  I  promise  it  —  and  I  never  break  a 
promise  to  a  friend." 

**You  fire  me  with  your  own  enthusiasm!" 
cried  De  Letz.  "We  shall  work  the  thing  be- 
tween us.  But  if  you,  and  you  alone,  can 
identify  this  man,  how  will  your  part  in  the  busi- 
ness be  kept  dark  ?" 

I  will  tell  you  how.  I  have  brought  several 
photographs  of  him,  which  I  have  always  kept 
within  reach.  These  I  will  give  to  you,  and  you 
can  use  them.    If  possible,  I  should,  however, 


278       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

like  to  appear,  not  in  the  character  of  an  enemy, 
but  that  of  a  friend.  You  may  think  this  a  low 
way  of  playing  the  game;  but,  you  know,  *all 
is  fair  in  love  and  war.'  I  want  Miss  Beverly 
to  think  I  am  here  at  this  time  by  chance;  that 
I  have  tried  to  soften  your  heart  toward  Dala- 
haide,  and  that  I  come  with  you,  not  as  your 
ally  against  her,  but  to  offer  her  and  her  cause 
what  help  I  can.  Of  course,  I  shall  fail  in  that 
effort,  and  you  will  win;  but  the  little  comedy 
will  have  brought  me  the  girl's  gratitude,  which 
is  worth  all  the  world  at  this  ticklish  stage  of 
the  game.  Will  you  aid  me  to  play  the  part  on 
these  lines  .^" 

De  Letz  laughed.  "So,  I  am  to  be  the  vil- 
lain of  the  piece  .^  Well,  I  do  not  mind.  We 
will  stage  the  play  realistically,  and  I " 

"And  you  will  never  regret  your  role  in  it," 
returned  Loria. 


Before  the  Bella  Cuba  left  Mentone  all  prob- 
able contingencies  of  the  mission  had  been 
foreseen,  and  as  far  as  possible  provided  for. 


STAND  AND  DELIVER  279 

by  Roger  Broom,  George  Trent,  and  Virginia 
Beverly,  in  council.  They  had  talked  over 
what  must  be  done  in  case  of  failure  or  suc- 
cess, and  the  only  event  which  Virginia  had  not 
felt  able  to  discuss  had  been  the  death  of  one  or 
more  of  the  three  men  concerned  in  the  rescue. 
They  knew  that,  if  the  Bella  Cuba  should  be 
lucky  enough  to  get  away  from  New  Caledonia 
with  Max  Dalahaide  on  board,  the  news  of  the 
convict's  escape  would  certainly  reach  the  next 
port  at  which  they  must  touch,  before  they 
could  arrive  there.  Virginia's  hope  had  been, 
after  meeting  the  Countess  de  Mattos,  that  the 
woman's  confession  would  exculpate  Maxime, 
and  that  the  peace  of  his  future  would  be 
secured  by  the  great  cou'p  of  "kidnapping"  her. 
But  now  this  glimpse  of  brightness  seemed  likely 
to  prove  a  mirage.  Virginia  was  as  sure  as  ever 
that  Manuela  de  Mattos  was  Liane  Devereux; 
even  Roger  Broom's  contrary  opinion  had  been 
somewhat  shaken  by  the  woman's  horrified 
shriek  at  sight  of  Max  Dalahaide's  white  face 
and  tragic  eyes  in  the  moonlight.  But  the 
Countess  had  hardened  once  more  into  marble 


280       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

self-control,  and  Maxime,  after  an  hour  or  two 
on  board  the  yacht,  had  fallen  into  a  state 
of  fever  and  delirium.  For  the  time  being  he 
could  do  nothing  to  assist  in  proving  her  iden- 
tity; indeed,  even  if  he  had  kept  his  senses,  he 
might  not  have  been  able  to  swear  that  she  was 
Liane  Devereux,  so  many  were  the  differences 
of  personality.  Months  might  have  to  pass 
before  the  truth  of  the  strange  conjecture  could 
be  proved  —  if  it  could  ever  be  proved — while 
the  Countess  de  Mattos  remained  entrenched 
in  her  strong  position  as  a  much  injured  and 
innocent  lady. 

They  could  not  count  upon  her,  and  were 
forced  to  rely  wholly  upon  the  plan  formed 
before  the  beautiful  Manuela  had  entered  into 
their  calculations.  On  reaching  Samoa  it  was 
to  be,  as  George  Trent  expressed  it,  a  "game 
of  bluff."  One  hope  of  saving  Max  lay  in  the 
fact  that  no  photograph  of  him  could  have 
arrived  from  New  Caledonia;  there  were  a  hun- 
dred chances  to  one  that  there  would  be  no  one 
at  Samoa  who  had  ever  seen  him;  he  could  not, 
therefore,  be  positively  identified,  and  as   the 


STAND  AND  DELIVER  281 

Bella  Cuba,  owned  by  an  American  girl,  flew 
the  stars  and  stripes,  it  was  not  likely  that  the 
authorities  would  care  to  invite  trouble  by 
attempting  to  detain  a  yacht  sailing  under 
American  colours.  It  was  well  known  to  the 
initiated  also,  that  successful  "evasions"  from 
the  French  penal  settlements  were  hushed  up 
with  nervous  caution  whenever  possible  and 
that  the  news  of  even  an  attempted  escape  was 
seldom  printed  in  French  papers.  This  was 
another  advantage  for  the  guilty  Bella  Cvha. 
It  might  be  considered  better  to  let  one  convict 
go  free,  than  precipitate  an  international  com- 
plication, a  world-wide  sensation,  especially  as 
there  was  no  one  with  a  personal  interest  to 
serve  in  recovering  this  particular  prisoner. 

They  steamed  boldly  on  toward  Samoa.  The 
morning  that  the  island  was  sighted.  Dr.  Grayle 
had  pronounced  Max  Dalahaide  better.  The 
delirium  had  passed.  He  was  quiet,  though 
still  very  weak. 

"I  suppose  he  wouldn't  be  able  to  confront 
that  wicked  woman  and  accuse  her  to  her  face  ?'* 
asked  Virginia  of  the  little  brown  man. 


282       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

Dr.  Grayle  shook  his  head.  "Not  yet,"  he 
said.  "Our  motto  must  be  forward,  but  not 
too  fast.  He  isn't  fit  yet  for  any  strong  excite- 
ment, since  we  don't  want  to  risk  a  relapse  now 
that  he's  getting  on  so  well.  I  was  rather 
afraid  the  sight  of  all  those  souvenirs  of  the 
past  in  his  cabin  would  upset  him  when  he 
should  be  in  a  state  of  mind  to  recognize  them, 
but  the  effect  has  apparently  been  precisely 
opposite.  At  first,  before  he  entirely  realized 
things,  and  remembered  where  he  was  and 
how  he  had  got  there,  he  seemed  to  think  that 
he  was  at  home,  and  was  continually  talking 
to  his  mother  or  sister,  or  calling  for  his  father, 
sometimes  in  English,  sometimes  in  French. 
Now  he  knows  all,  and  when  he  heard  how  it  was 
your  thought  and  his  sister's  to  have  so  many 
familiar  objects  surrounding  him,  to  give  an 
atmosphere  of  home  to  the  cabin  prepared  in 
case  of  a  rescue,  the  tears  came  to  his  eyes, 
and  he  turned  away  his  head  on  the  pillow 
to  hide  them  from  me.  He  believes  that,  even 
in  his  unconsciousness,  these  things  must  have 
made  an  impression  upon  his  mind,  and  by 


STAND  AND  DELIVER  288 

their  soothing  influence  drawn  his  thought 
toward  home,  otherwise  he  must  have  raved 
about  the  prison  in  his  delirium,  instead  of 
returning  to  old,  happy  days.  So  you  see.  Miss 
Beverly,  he  has  one  more  reason  to  thank  you, 
this  poor  fellow  who  has  suffered  so  much,  and 
kept  so  brave  and  strong  through  all." 

Virginia  had  been  pale  of  late,  but  she 
flushed  at  these  words.  "You  believe  him 
innocent.  Dr.  Grayle!"  she  exclaimed.  "You 
wouldn't  speak  of  him  like  that  unless  it  were  so." 

"No  one  could  have  been  with  him  as  I  have 
these  past  few  days,  and  not  believe  him  inno- 
cent,'* said  the  little  doctor  in  his  quiet  voice. 
"Sir  Roger  thinks  as  I  do,  too,  now.  You 
will  be  glad  to  hear  that." 

"I  am  glad,"  Virginia  answered.  But  Roger 
was  not  glad.  Above  all  things  he  was  just  — 
sometimes  in  spite  of  himself.  He  had  helped 
to  nurse  Max  Dalahaide;  he  had  changed  his 
opinion  of  him,  and  felt  bound  to  say  so;  yet 
he  was  not  glad  to  change.  He  would  have 
preferred  to  go  on  believing  Dalahaide  a 
guilty  man. 


284       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

Virginia  had  not  the  key  to  Roger's  heart, 
however,  and  she  did  not  know  that  he  had  the 
key  to  hers  —  to  one  hidden  place  there  into 
which  she  had  hardly  dared  to  look.  She 
would  have  kept  it  always  locked,  even  from 
herself,  if  she  could;  but  because  she  knew  that 
there  was  something  there  to  hide,  she  invited 
Roger  to  go  with  her  when  Max  sent  word 
through  Dr.  Grayle,  begging  to  see  his  hostess. 
She  did  not  want  Roger  to  be  present  when  she 
talked  with  Maxime  Dalahaide  for  the  first 
time  since  his  escape.  She  would  have  liked 
to  be  alone  with  him,  if  that  had  been  possible; 
but  for  the  very  reason  that  the  wish  was  so 
strong  in  her  heart,  she  denied  it.  Her  cousin 
Roger  had  risked  his  life  to  please  her,  and  she 
had  a  promise  to  keep.  She  meant  to  keep  it; 
and  he  had  a  right  to  be  by  her  side  when  she 
went  to  the  man  whom  he  had  so  nobly  helped 
to  save. 

But  Roger  refused.  "No,  dear,"  he  said. 
"Soon  we  shall  be  in  the  harbour  at  Samoa. 
There  is  plenty  to  do.  I  want  to  be  on  hand 
with  George  to  do  it.     Let  Dr.  Grayle  take  you 


STAND  AND  DELIVER  £85 

to  Maxime.  He  will  know  how  long  and  how 
much  it  is  best  for  him  to  talk," 

"We  will  be  in  harbour  so  soon?"  exclaimed 
Virginia.  "The  Countess!  She  will  try  to  get 
away,  you  know." 

"  She'll  try  in  vain,"  responded  Roger.  "  We 
won't  give  her  a  boat." 

"But  there'll  be  ships  and  boats  in  the  har- 
bour. She  may  call  for  help,  and  make  us 
trouble." 

"I'll  see  to  her,"  said  Roger.  "I  don't  think 
we  shall  get  much  good  out  of  detaining  her; 
but  we've  gone  so  far  now,  we  may  as  well  go 
a  little  further." 

They  were  talking  in  the  saloon,  out  of  which 
the  cabins  opened,  but  they  had  spoken  in  low 
voices,  guarding  against  being  overheard.  Nor 
could  they  have  been  overheard,  unless  by  some 
one  making  a  special  effort  to  listen.  Such  an 
effort  the  Countess  de  Mattos  was  making. 
She  had  kept  to  her  cabin  since  the  eventful 
night  of  the  escape  from  New  Caledonia,  and 
had  demanded  her  meals  and  other  attentions 
with  the  air  of  an  insulted  queen  claiming  her 


^286       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

just  rights.  She  always  bent  herself  eagerly 
to  listen  when  she  heard  the  murmur  of  voices 
in  the  saloon,  especially  if  they  seemed  to  be 
suppressed.  She  did  not  now  catch  every  word, 
but  she  heard  "the  harbour  of  Samoa";  "soon 
in";  "the  Countess  —  try  to  get  away";  "call 
for  help  —  make  us  trouble";  "I'll  see  to  her"; 
and  she  pressed  her  lips  together  in  fierce  anger, 
her  delicate  nostrils  quivering. 

From  her  porthole  she  had  not  seen  the  land 
in  sight,  and  had  had  no  means  of  knowing  that 
the  time  for  her  to  act  was  so  near  at  hand. 
Since  the  night  of  her  terrible  shock,  she  had 
revolved  many  plans  in  her  mind,  but  the  only 
one  upon  which  she  had  definitely  decided 
was  to  leave  the  Bella  Cuba  at  all  costs,  and  as 
soon  as  possible.  Her  nerves  were  not  in  a  state 
to  stand  an  indefinite  strain,  and  she  realized 
that  she  could  not  bear  much  more.  Even  with 
the  chlorodyne  and  absinthe  she  hardly  slept 
now,  and  she  scarcely  cared  to  project  her 
thoughts  beyond  the  time  of  escape  from  the 
hateful  yacht. 

Now,  she  had  one  thing  for  which  to  thank 


STAND  AND  DELIVER  287 

Virginia  Beverly;  the  suggestion  that  she  should 
call  for  help  when  the  Bella  Cuba  had  steamed 
into  the  harbour  of  Samoa.  At  once  her  excit- 
able brain  seized  the  picturesqueness  of  a  drama- 
tic situation.  She  saw  herself,  effectively  dressed, 
rushing  to  the  rail  and  hailing  any  passing  ship 
which  might  be  nearest.  Sir  Roger  Broom, 
or  her  late  friend  George  Trent,  might  try  to 
stop  her,  but  their  violence  would  be  seen  from 
some  other  ship,  and  her  cause  against  them 
would  be  strengthened. 

Surely  her  appeals  would  not  be  ignored; 
men,  of  whatever  class  or  country,  were  never 
blind  to  the  distress  of  a  woman  as  beauti- 
ful as  she.  Yes,  she  would  be  rescued.  The 
story  that  she  would  tell  must  rouse  indigna- 
tion against  Virginia  Beverly  and  her  compan- 
ions. She  herself  had  nothing  to  fear  —  noth- 
ing. And  the  man  on  whose  advice  she  had 
spent  years  of  exile  would  admire  her  more  than 
ever,  when  he  knew  what  she  had  endured, 
without  breaking  down.  The  end  of  her  pro- 
bation had  come.  The  reason  for  delay  had 
disappeared  now,  after  all  these  years.     They 


288       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

would  marry,  he  and  she,  and  he  would  help 
her  to  forget  the  past. 

Manuela's  reflections  did  not  cause  her  to 
waste  time.  They  were  a  mere  accompani- 
ment to  her  rapid  action.  Virginia  had  said 
they  would  soon  be  in  the  harbour.  She  must 
prepare  herself  to  leave  the  yacht,  and  get  ready 
to  carry  with  her  such  things  as  were  indis- 
pensable. Hurriedly  she  threw  off  the  robe  de 
chambre  of  silk  and  lace  which  she  had  been 
wearing,  and  put  on  a  charming  dress,  suitable 
for  travelling.  The  long  outstanding  account  for 
this  confection  had  been  paid  with  Virginia 
Beverly's  money;  but  that  was  a  detail. 

When  she  was  ready  to  go  up  on  deck  — 
which  she  would  do  as  soon  as  the  yacht  dropped 
anchor  —  she  took  her  jewels  from  the  large 
leather  box  where  they  were  kept,  and  wrapping 
everything  in  a  soft  silk  scarf,  she  stuffed  the 
thick  parcel  into  a  handbag,  which  already  held 
several  mysterious-looking  bottles  with  the  labels 
carefully  taken  off.  This  bag  was  always  locked, 
except  when  the  Countess  was  at  her  toilet; 
then,  for  a  brief  time,  the  bottles  came  out. 


STAND  AND  DELIVER  289 

and  a  few  tiny  boxes  and  brushes;  but  she 
never  forgot  to  put  them  back  into  the  bag 
again,  turn  the  key,  and  slip  the  latter  on  to  the 
gold  key-ring  which  she  wore  on  her  chatelaine. 

The  bag  packed  with  jewels,  as  well  as  its 
legitimate  contents,  Manuela  turned  her  atten- 
tion to  the  larger  luggage.  This  she  could  not 
carry  away  with  her,  if  she  were  gallantly 
rescued  from  her  sea-prison  by  a  cowp  d'etat; 
but  it  would  be  as  well  to  have  the  things  which 
she  most  valued  ready  to  go  later.  She  had 
filled  her  cabin-box,  and  was  in  the  act  of  lock- 
ing it,  when  the  yacht's  screw  ceased  to  throb. 
The  Bella  Cuba  had  stopped.  Orders  were 
being  shouted  up  above;  and  then  came  a 
grinding  sound  as  the  anchor  was  slowly  dropped. 
The  Countess  de  Mattos  knew  that  they  must 
be  in  the  harbour  of  Samoa.  She  flung  open 
the  door  of  her  cabin  and  stepped  out  into  the 
saloon.  There  sat  George  Trent,  who,  as  she 
appeared,  looked  up  from  a  book  which  he  was 
reading,  or  seemed  to  read. 

"Good  morning.  Countess,"  he  said  coolly, 
rising  and  flinging  away  his  book.     "I'm  glad 


290       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

you're  better,  but  I  don't  think,  now  I  see 
you  in  the  light,  that  you  look  well  enough 
to  be  out." 

*'I  was  never  ill,"  she  answered  haughtily  — 
for  Virginia  Beverly's  brother  could  only  be  an 
enemy. 

"It's  mighty  brave  of  you  to  try  and  keep  up 
like  this,"  said  George,  "but  that  was  a  bad 
attack  of  yours  the  other  night.  I  can  see 
you're  not  fit  yet.  You'd  better  go  back  and 
lie  down  while  we  coal.  The  blacks  will  be 
flying  around,  you  know,  and  you'll  get  them 
in  your  lungs." 

"Let  me  pass,"  exclaimed  the  Countess, 
making  a  rush  to  push  by  him  and  reach  the 
companionway. 

"I'd  do  a  good  deal  for  you,  Countess,  but 
I  can't  do  that,"  retorted  George.  "It's  against 
the  doctor's  orders." 

"How  dare  you!"  she  panted.  "Oh,  you 
shall  suffer  for  this!" 

"All  I'm  worried  about  now  is  that  you  don't 
suffer.  You  really  mustn't  excite  yourself.  It's 
not  good,  you  know.  It's  as  much  as  my  place 


STAND  AND  DELIVER  291 

is  worth  to  let  you  upstairs.  I  expect  it  would 
be  the  best  thing  for  your  health  to  go  and  lie 
down,  but  if  you  won't  do  that,  why,  I'll  try 
and  entertain  you  here  as  well  as  I  can." 

The  beautiful  woman  looked  the  tall  young 
man  full  in  the  eyes,  hers  dilated  and  burning 
with  the  impotent  fury  in  her  soul.  She  was 
wise  enough  to  see  that  he  was  not  to  be  be- 
guiled. If  he,  like  other  men,  had  his  price, 
nothing  that  she  could  offer  would  pay  it.  He 
did  not  mean  to  let  her  go  up  on  deck,  and  it 
would  be  as  useless  as  undignified  to  attempt 
carrying  out  her  will  with  a  high  hand.  If  there 
were  any  hope,  it  was  in  stratagem.  Without 
breaking  another  lance  against  the  impene- 
trable armour  of  his  obstinacy,  she  turned  her 
back  upon  him,  swept  into  her  cabin,  and  shut 
the  door.  Having  done  so  —  her  little  bag  still 
grasped  in  her  hand  —  she  flew  to  the  port- 
hole and  peered  out.  If  a  boat  had  been  pass- 
ing, or  a  ship  at  anchor  visible  near  by,  she 
would  have  screamed  for  help;  but  nothing 
promising  was  to  be  seen  for  the  moment. 

Meanwhile,    Virginia    had    spent    the    most 


292       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

heavenly  half -hour  of  her  life.  She  had  been 
so  divinely  happy  that  she  had  forgotten  the 
danger  ahead.  To  sit  beside  Max  Dalahaide, 
to  meet  his  eyes,  tragic  no  longer,  but  bright 
with  passionate  gratitude;  to  know  that  he  was 
out  of  danger,  that  he  would  live,  and  owe  his 
life  to  her  and  hers;  to  hear  the  thanks,  spoken 
stammeringly,  but  straight  from  his  heart,  filled 
her  with  an  ecstasy  such  as  she  had  never 
known.  It  was  akin  to  pain,  and  yet  it  was 
worth  dying  for,  just  to  have  felt  it  once. 

She  was  with  him  still  when  the  yacht  dropped 
anchor. 

"This  is  Samoa .^"  he  said,  half  rising  on  his 
elbow,  and  a  quick  flush  springing  to  his  thin 
cheeks. 

"Yes,"  Virginia  answered.  "But  there  is 
no  danger.  My  cousin  says  they  will  dare  noth- 
ing. We  shall  have  coaled  in  a  couple  of  hours, 
and  then " 

At  this  moment  a  sound  of  voices  came 
through  the  open  porthole,  which  was  on  the 
side  of  the  yacht  opposite  to  Manuela's. 

Some  one  in  a  boat  was  calling  to  some  one 


STAND  AND  DELIVER  293 

on  the  deck  of  the  Bella  Cuba;  and  evidently 
the  boat  was  near. 

Virginia's  sentence  broke  off.  She  forgot 
what  she  had  been  saying,  and  sprang  to  her 
feet,  her  heart  in  her  throat.  It  was  the  Mar- 
chese  Loria's  voice  that  she  had  heard. 

What  could  his  presence  here  signify  .^^  Did 
it  mean  unexpected  disaster  ?  Involuntarily  her 
frightened  glance  went  to  Maxime's  face.  Their 
eyes  met.  She  saw  in  his  that  he,  too,  had 
recognized  those  once  familiar  tones. 

"I  will  go  on  deck,"  she  said  brokenly,  try- 
ing to  control  her  voice.  "I  —  when  I  can  I 
will  come  back  a^gain.  And  —  of  course.  Dr. 
Grayle,  you  will  stay  here." 

"You  may  trust  me,"  said  the  little  brown 
man,  with  meaning  in  his  words. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  GAME   OF   BLUFF 

ROGER  BROOM  had  seen  the  boat  coming 
from  afar.  Already  the  lighters  were 
alongside,  and  the  process  of  coaling  was  about 
to  begin.  This  would  be  got  through  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  necessary  provisions  bought 
from  the  boats  plying  from  the  town  with 
fresh  milk,  butter,  eggs,  meat,  fowls,  and 
green  vegetables.  But  Roger  knew  well  that, 
expedite  their  business  as  they  might,  the 
Bella  Cuba  would  not  steam  out  of  the 
harbour  without  a  challenge  from  the  law. 
The  only  shock  of  surprise  he  experienced 
at  sight  of  the  oflBcial-Iooking  little  craft, 
making  straight  for  the  yacht,  was  in  recog- 
nizing the  Marchese  Loria,  the  last  man  he 
had  expected  to  see. 

As  he  stood  on  deck  beside  the  quartermaster 
near  the  rail,  Loria  hailed  him  by  name,  while 

294 


THE  GAME  OF  BLUFF  295 

the  boat  came  alongside,  and  the  four  rowers 
shipped  their  dripping  oars. 

"Ah,  Sir  Roger,  you  are  surprised  to  see  me!" 
the  Marchese  cried.  "But,  by  our  old  friend- 
ship, I  hope  you  will  let  me  come  on  board. 
These  gentlemen  in  the  boat  with  me  are  the 
United  States  Consul,  Mr.  Chandler;  the  French 
Consul,  Monsieur  de  Letz;  and  Herr  Dr.  Sauber, 
the  medical  officer  for  the  health  of  the  port." 

"Speaking  for  Miss  Beverly  as  well  as  myself, 
we  shall  be  very  pleased  to  see  you,"  said  Roger. 
"Herr  Dr.  Sauber's  business  with  us  it  is  easy 
to  guess,  and  he  is  prompt  in  carrying  it  out. 
Mr.  Chandler  and  Monsieur  de  Letz  are,  no 
doubt,  your  friends,  Marchese,  who  have  come 
with  you  to  pay  us  a  friendly  visit.  We  shall 
be  delighted  to  entertain  them  on  board  as  well 
as  we  can  during  the  dreary  process  of  coaling." 

"I  can't  let  you  receive  us  on  false  pretenses, 
sir,"  replied  the  United  States  Consul.  "My 
business  and  that  of  Monsieur  de  Letz  is  not 
wholly  friendly,  unfortunately,  although  we 
are  both  particularly  anxious  it  should  be  carried 
out  in  a  friendly  spirit.     It  is  in  this  hope  that 


296       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

certain  formalities  have  been  waived.  It  is,  as 
you  know,  your  duty  to  receive  Dr.  Sauber  on 
board,  and  as  you  fly  the  American  colours  it  is 
your  duty  to  receive  me  as  the  representative 
of  the  authority  of  the  United  States." 

"Charmed,  I'm  sure,  to  see  you  in  any 
capacity,"  said  Roger,  his  tone  unchanged. 
"Though  what  the  authority  of  the  United  States 
should  have  to  do  in  procuring  us  the  pleasure. 


"The  authority  of  the  United  States  supports 
France,  as  it  is  bound  to  do,  in  accordance  with 
the  extradition  treaty,  in  demanding  that  you 
give  up  the  fugitive  convict,  1280,  who  came  on 
board  your  yacht  at  New  Caledonia." 

"  We  have  no  convict  with  us,"  retorted  Roger. 

"In  that  case  you  cannot  object  to  search 
being  made,"  said  Monsieur  de  Letz. 

"We  do  most  certainly  object  to  being  in- 
sulted," Roger  replied.  "Mr.  Chandler,  the 
owner  of  this  yacht  is  an  American  lady.  Miss 
Beverly.  I  call  upon  you  as  her  Consul  to 
protect  her  interests,  not  to  sacrifice  them." 

"Sir  Roger,"  Loria  broke  in,  before  Chandler 


THE  GAME  OF  BLUFF  297 

could  answer,  "I  beg  once  more  that  you  will 
let  me  come  on  board  with  the  doctor  as  a  friend. 
I  will  explain  why,  when  we  can  talk  together. 
Though  I  am  with  these  gentlemen,  their  errand 
is  not  mine." 

"The  doctor  I  feel  bound  to  receive,"  said 
Roger.  "But  Miss  Beverly,  it  seems  to  me,  has 
as  much  right  to  choose  who  her  guests  shall  be 
on  board  her  own  yacht  as  in  her  own  house.  If 
she  were  here  to  speak  for  herself " 

"She  is  here  to  speak  for  herself,"  said  Vir- 
ginia, at  his  shoulder.  "Marchese  Loria,  I 
invite  you  to  come  on  board.  I  invite  also  the 
United  States  Consul,  whose  protection  I  claim. 
But  I  do  not  choose  to  have  other  guests." 

"The  health  officer  has  a  right  to  board  us, 
you  know,  Virginia,"  said  Roger  in  a  loud  tone; 
then  close  to  her  ear:  "Hang  it  all!  we  are  more 
or  less  at  their  mercy.  We  can't  get  away 
without  coaling,  and  they  know  it.  Our  poor 
little  cannon  are  of  no  use  to  us  here.  We 
can't  afford  to  defy  any  of  the  powers  interested; 
they've  got  too  many  gunboats  in  the  harbour. 
Bluff  is  our  game,  and  we've  got  to  play  it  for 


298       THE  CASTLE  OP  THE  SHADOWS 

all  it's  worth.  But  you're  perfectly  right  about 
the  Consul.  Only,  if  you  don't  want  Loria, 
you  needn't " 

"I  do  want  him,"  Virginia  hastily  whispered 
—  "for  a  special  reason.  And  I  want  to  talk 
to  him  alone.  But  for  heaven's  sake  keep  the 
Frenchman  off!  Who  knows  what  coup  he 
may  be  planning.?" 

As  if  in  answer,  though  he  could  not  possibly 
have  heard,  De  Letz  announced  from  the  boat 
that  he  did  not  wish  to  insist  upon  boarding  the 
yacht.  He  would  trust  his  business  in  Mr. 
Chandler's  hands,  since  the  lady  preferred  it. 
This  easy-going  courtesy  alarmed  Virginia. 
She  felt  instinctively  that  the  enemy  had  a 
strong  trump  with  which  to  confound  her 
unexpectedly.  Still,  if  she  did  not  quite  see 
the  enemy's  game,  at  least  they  could  not  see 
hers. 

The  gangway  was  let  down.  Loria,  Chandler, 
and  the  medical  oflScer  of  the  port  came  on  board. 
Then  the  gangway  was  drawn  up,  though  the 
French  Consul  and  the  four  oarsmen  sat  placidly 
in  the  boat. 


THE  GAME  OF  BLUFF  299 

The  purser,  who  was  busy  receiving  stores, 
was  sent  for,  to  be  interviewed  by  the  doctor. 
Roger,  standing  by,  gave  half  his  attention  to 
the  conversation  between  these  two,  and  half 
to  the  United  States  Consul,  who  plunged  at 
once  into  the  subject  of  the  escaped  convict. 

Monsieur  de  Letz  had  informed  him,  he 
announced,  that  if  the  fugitive  were  not  given 
up  to  justice  by  the  American  yacht,  it  would 
be  regarded  by  France  as  a  direct  and  deliberate 
affront.  Meanwhile,  the  medical  officer  bom- 
barded the  unfortunate  purser  with  questions. 
What  ports  had  been  visited.?  Where  had  the 
passengers  been  taken  on.?  None  since  Alex- 
andria? Humph!  Alexandria  was  considered 
an  infected  port  at  present.  Any  one  ill  on 
board.?  No.?  Where,  then,  were  the  remain- 
ing members  of  the  party.?  In  their  cabins.? 
The  doctor  must  ask,  as  a  mere  matter  of  form, 
to  see  them. 

Roger  Broom's  lips  were  suddenly  compressed. 
So  this  was  the  game.  He  saw  it  all  now.  The 
doctor  was  in  the  plot.  He  meant  to  detain  the 
yacht  in  quarantine.     If  he  succeeded  in  doing 


300       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

this,  Maxime  Dalahaide  was  lost.  Everything 
else  they  had  thought  of,  but  not  this. 

"  May  I  speak  with  you  alone.  Miss  Beverly  .?'* 
Loria  had  begun  to  plead,  the  instant  he  had 
set  foot  on  deck.  "Believe  me,  it  is  partly  for 
your  own  sake,  partly  for  the  sake  of  others 
whose  welfare  is  dear  to  you,  that  I  ask  it." 

It  was  the  thing  for  which  Virginia  had  been 
wishing.  "Come  down  with  me  into  the 
saloon,"  she  said. 

"  Could  we  not  speak  here,  at  a  little  distance 
from  the  others?"  urged  Loria,  who  knew  that 
the  doctor  intended  to  visit  the  cabins. 

"It  is  better  below,"  the  girl  answered.  She 
was  determined  to  be  already  in  the  saloon 
before  the  others  came  down.  "Come  quickly, 
and  we  can  talk  without  being  disturbed." 

There  was  nothing  for  Loria  to  do  but  to 
obey. 

They  went  down  the  companion  way;  and 
George  Trent,  on  guard  with  his  book  near  the 
Countess  de  Mattos's  cabin  door,  jumped  up  at 
sight  of  Loria. 

"What,   you   here,    Marchese?"   he   began. 


THE  GAME  OF  BLUFF  301 

But  Virginia  cut  him  short  with  a  look  and 
gesture  both  imploring  and  imperative. 

"  Leave  us,  George,  I  beg,"  she  said.  "  Later, 
there  will  be  time  for  explanations." 

Without  a  word,  the  young  man  bowed  and 
walked  away.  But  he  did  not  go  farther  than 
his  cabin.  He  wished  to  be  at  hand  if  he  were 
needed,  as  he  might  be,  by  and  by. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  stateroom  door  stood 
the  Countess,  half  crouching,  like  a  splendid 
tigress  ready  to  spring. 

"  Marchese,"  George  Trent  had  said.  Who 
was  this  Marchese.'^  Could  it  be  possible  that 
it  was  the  one  man  of  all  others  for  whom  her 
heart  had  cried  out.'*  Had  his  soul,  in  some 
mysterious,  supernatural  way,  heard  her  soul 
calling  to  him  across  the  world?  Had  he 
heard,  and  come  to  her  here,  to  save  her  from 
her  enemies.^  In  another  moment  she  must 
hear  the  voice  of  the  newcomer  whom  George 
had  addressed  as  "Marchese,"  and  then  she 
would  know. 

Even  as  she  told  herself  this,  schooling  her 
impatience,   the  voice   spoke.     "Miss   Beverly 


302       THE  CASTI.E  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

—  Virginia,"  it  said  brokenly,  imploringly,  "for 
the  love  of  heaven  don't  misjudge  me.  I  came 
with  those  men  to-day,  not  to  help  them,  but 
to  help  you  —  if  I  can.  You  must  know  I 
would  give  my  life  to  serve  you.  My  life,  do  I 
say?  I  would  give  my  soul.  It  was  in  ignor- 
ance of  what  would  happen  that  I  visited  Samoa. 
The  French  Consul  is  an  old  school  friend.  He 
told  me  everything  —  I  mean,  the  news  from 
New  Caledonia.  He  has  photographs  of  Max- 
ime.  I  tried  to  get  them  away,  without  his 
knowledge,  but  I  didn't  succeed.  You  must 
not  be  embroiled  further  in  this  terrible  affair. 
The  best  thing  is  for  you  to  give  the  poor  fellow 
up,  and  I  swear  to  you  that,  for  your  sake,  and 
for  his  —  even  though  I  believe  him  guilty  — 
I  will  find  some  means  of  saving  him.  The 
doctor  has  been  promised  all  sorts  of  favours 
if  he  will  state  that  there  is  a  suspicious  case 
of  illness  on  board;  a  stateroom  door  locked 
against  him  will  be  enough  to  raise  suspicions 
that  you  are  hiding  a  case  of  plague.  You  can 
do  nothing.  Unless  you  give  Maxime  up,  and 
it  is  seen  that  you  have  a  clean  bill  of  health, 


THE  GAME  OF  BLUFF  303 

you  will  be  detained  indefinitely  in  quarantine. 
Further  advices  will  arrive  from  New  Caledonia, 
representations  will  be  made  to  the  authorities 
here,  it  will  become  an  international  question, 
and  you  will  be  forced  to  surrender  the  escaped 
prisoner.  Maxime  will  then  be  lost,  for  I 
should  be  unable  to  help  him,  if  things  had 
gone  so  far  —  the  hue  and  cry  would  be  too 
furious.  De  Letz  is  determined  to  thwart 
you,  but  he  doesn't  know  that  I  am  a  secret 
ally  of  your  plans.  Trust  to  me.  Give  Maxime 
up  while  there  is  time,  and  you  will  never 
repent  it." 

*'You  make  brave  promises,  Marchese,"  re- 
turned Virginia.  "But  you  do  not  name  your 
price.  I  suppose,  like  other  men,  you  have 
a  price  for  what  you  say  you  can  do.^" 

"I  make  no  conditions,"  answered  Loria. 
"It  hurts  me  that  you  could  think  of  it.  All 
I  want  is  a  little  gratitude  from  you  —  ah,  no,  I 
I  cannot  say  that  is  all  I  want.  Only,  it  is  all 
I  ask.  What  I  want  more  than  anything  on 
earth,  more  than  anything  which  even  Heaven 
could  give,  is  the  treasure  of  your  love.     For 


304       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

that,  I  could  fight  my  way,  and  Maxime  Dala- 
haide*s  way,  through  the  place  of  lost  spu-its, 
and  laugh  at  the  tortures  of  Hades.  I  dare  not 
ask  for  that  treasure  now.  Give  me  what  you 
can,  that  is  all,  and  my  life's  blood  is  yours,  for 
I  worship  you,  Virginia.  I  dream  of  you  night 
and  day.  If  I  cannot  have  you  for  my  wife, 
I  shall  go  to  my  grave  unmarried,  and  the 
sooner  the  better.  There's  nothing  but  you 
in  the  world;  no  other  woman  but  you;  there 
never  has  been  for  me,  and  never  will  be." 

"It*s  false!"  cried  the  voice  of  a  woman, 
husky  with  passion;  and  throwing  open  the 
door  of  her  cabin,  the  Countess  de  Mattos  stood 
on  the  threshold,  not  six  feet  distant  from  the 
two  in  the  saloon. 

Carried  away  on  the  tide  of  his  very  real  love 
for  Virginia  Beverly,  whose  pale,  spiritualized 
beauty  had  gone  to  his  head  like  wine,  the  hot- 
blooded  Italian  was  at  a  disadvantage.  Strength 
had  gone  out  of  him  in  his  appeal.  Physically 
and  mentally  he  was  spent. 

The  passionate  voice,  the  flaming  eyes  of  the 
woman  suddenly  seen  in  the  doorway,  struck 


THE  GAME  OF  BLUFF  305 

him  like  a  double  blow  aimed  at  a  drowning 
man.  "Liane!"  he  cried,  before  he  could 
regain  the  self-mastery  which  meant  all  the 
difference  between  life  and  death. 

**Yes,"  she  flung  at  him  in  French,  "I  am 
Liane  —  Liane  Devereux.  Come,  every  one, 
and  hear  what  I  have  to  say.  This  man  is  a 
traitor  —  traitorous  friend  and  treacherous 
lover!"  She  stopped  for  an  instant,  and  threw 
a  glance  round  the  saloon.  Loria  and  Virginia 
Beverly  were  no  longer  alone  there.  George 
Trent,  Sir  Roger  Broom,  Kate  Gardiner,  and 
two  men  who  were  strangers  had  suddenly 
appeared  as  if  by  a  conjuring  trick.  The 
woman  stood  with  her  head  held  high,  like  some 
magnificent  wild  creature  of  the  forest  at  bay, 
fearing  nothing  save  loss  of  vengeance.  She 
was  glad  that  all  these  people  had  come.  The 
more  there  were  to  hear  the  tale  she  meant  to 
tell,  the  more  sure  the  stroke  of  her  revenge. 
Yes,  she  was  glad,  glad!  And  though  she  died 
for  it,  under  the  knife  of  the  guillotine,  she 
would  ruin  the  man  who  had  deceived  her. 

"He  pretended  to  love  me,"  she  went  on. 


306       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

"But  now  I  know  that  he  never  did,  for  when 
he  vowed  love  and  devotion  his  voice  did  not 
once  sound  as  I  have  heard  it  now,  speaking 
to  that  white-faced  girl  when  he  did  not  dream 
I  was  near. 

"I  am  Liane  Devereux,  not  a  Portuguese 
woman,  not  the  Countess  de  Mattos,  therefore 
Maxime  Dalahaide  is  not  a  murderer,  since  I 
live.  It  was  the  Marchese  Loria  who  arranged 
everjrthing  —  even  my  name,  and  credentials, 
and  proofs  of  my  identity  as  Manuela  de  Mattos, 
in  case  they  were  ever  needed.  Oh,  there  was 
nothing  neglected.  But  now  I  know  that  it 
was  not  for  my  sake,  as  I  thought,  but  to  serve 
his  own  ends,  and  I  am  willing  to  die  to  hold 
him  back  from  success. 

"I  will  tell  you  the  whole  story  from  the 
beginning.  Five  years  ago  I  was  an  actress  in 
Paris.  I  made  two  or  three  failures.  A  power- 
ful dramatic  critic  had  vowed  to  drive  me  off 
the  stage.  He  had  begun  his  work;  and  at 
this  perilous  time  in  my  career,  just  as  I  had 
quarrelled  with  my  manager,  Maxime  Dala- 
haide fell  in  love  with  me.    I  thought  he  was 


THE  GAME  OF  BLUFF  307 

rich.  It  occurred  to  me  that  if  I  became  his 
wife  I  could  leave  the  stage  in  a  blaze  of  glory. 
Besides,  he  was  brilliant  and  h-andsome.  I 
was  flattered  by  his  admiration,  and  felt  that  it 
would  be  easy  to  love  him.  I  did  all  I  could  to 
win  an  offer  of  marriage  from  him.  When  it 
came  I  accepted.  But  soon  after  our  engage- 
ment his  father  lost  a  great  deal  of  money.  I 
realized  that  Maxime  would  not  be  as  good  a 
match  as  I  had  counted  upon  making.  Still, 
I  did  not  throw  him  over;  for  by  that  time  I 
cared  for  his  handsome  face,  and  I  was  of  far 
too  jealous  a  nature  to  risk  throwing  him  into 
the  arms  of  another  woman.  If  we  parted,  I 
thought  I  knew  to  what  woman  he  would  turn. 
There  was  an  English  girl  singing  at  the  Opera 
Comique,  whose  name  at  one  time  had  been 
coupled  with  Maxime  Dalahaide's.  She  had 
a  good  voice  and  a  pretty  enough  face,  but  she 
would  not  have  succeeded  in  Paris,  people 
whispered,  if  Maxime  had  not  helped  her.  I 
had  spoken  to  him  of  this  girl,  and  he  had  denied 
caring  for  her.  She  was  a  very  ordinary, 
uninteresting  creature,  apart  from  her  beauty, 


808       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SILVDOWS 

he  said;  but  she  had  been  friendless  and  in 
hard  luck,  and  as  he  was  half  English  himself, 
he  had  done  what  he  could  to  aid  a  lonely  and 
deserving  young  countrywoman,  that  was  all. 
Still,  I  was  never  sure  that  he  was  not  deceiving 
me.  Altogether,  in  those  days,  I  was  unhappy. 
The  Marchese  Loria,  Maxime's  best  friend  —  as 
I  thought  —  was  very  sympathetic.  He  came 
often  to  see  me,  both  with  Maxime  and  alone. 
One  day  they  quarrelled  in  my  house.  It  was 
Loria  who  began  it.  He  accused  Maxime 
of  prejudicing  his  sister  Madeleine  against  him, 
and  Maxime  admitted  that,  though  he  loved 
Loria,  he  did  not  think  he  would  made  a  good 
husband,  and  did  not  wish  him  to  marry  Made- 
leine. With  a  look  of  jealous  hatred  in  his 
ej'es,  which  I  have  never  forgotten,  Loria  cried 
out  that  Maxime  had  always  taken  away  from 
him  everything  he  wanted  most  —  love  of 
friends  and  women,  popularity,  all  that  a  man 
values  in  life.  Then,  almost  before  Maxime 
could  answer  to  vow  that  never,  consciously, 
had  he  been  Loria's  rival  or  injured  him  in  any 
way,    Loria   begged   forgiveness,    said   he   had 


THE  GAME  OF  BLTJFF  309 

spoken  in  anger  —  that  in  his  heart  he  did  not 
mean  a  word.  So  the  quarrel  —  if  quarrel 
you  could  call  it  —  was  made  up.  But  I 
guessed  then  that  Loria  had  never  really  loved 
Maxime. 

"It  was  only  a  few  days  after  this  that  I  found 
myself  in  great  trouble  with  my  creditors.  Max- 
ime had  had  too  many  losses  to  help  me  much, 
though  he  lent  me  two  or  three  thousand  francs. 
I  asked  him  to  pawn  my  jewels,  which  were 
worth  a  good  deal,  and  to  do  it  in  his  own  name. 
It  was  Loria  who  put  this  idea  into  my  head. 
He  said  that  by  this  means  I  should  prevent  the 
pawn-tickets  from  being  seized  by  other 
creditors.  Late  that  very  afternoon,  when, 
against  his  will,  Maxime  had  taken  my  jewels, 
the  English  girl,  Olive  Sinclair,  came  to  my  flat, 
saying  that  she  must  talk  to  me  of  an  affair  of 
great  importance  to  us  both.  I  was  curious, 
and  my  jealousy  was  up  in  arms.  She  was 
admitted  by  my  maid,  who  was  just  going  out 
for  the  whole  evening,  by  my  permission. 

"Olive  Sinclair  came  in.  We  were  alone 
together  in  the  flat.     She  began  by  saying  that 


310       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

she  was  going  to  England  by  the  late  boat  that 
night,  and  that  Maxime  Dalahaide  was  going 
with  her.  As  soon  as  possible,  the  girl  went 
on,  they  would  be  married  at  a  registrar's  office, 
and  the  marriage  kept  secret  from  his  family 
until  she  came  of  age  the  next  year,  when  she 
would  inherit  a  fortune,  which  she  should  be 
only  too  glad  to  share  with  her  beloved  Maxime. 
She  had  heard,  she  said,  that  I  went  about  boast- 
ing everywhere  of  my  engagement  to  Maxime 
Dalahaide,  and  that  she  could  bear  it  no  longer, 
so  she  had  come  to  tell  me  the  real  truth,  and 
humble  my  pride.  Perhaps  I  would  not  have 
believed  her  if  I  had  not  known  that  Maxime 
did  intend  to  go  to  England  that  night.  He  had 
told  me  that  he  wanted  to  see  an  uncle  there 
on  business.  At  once  his  story  seemed  improb- 
able. I  believed  that  the  girl  was  telling  me  the 
truth.  I  have  always  had  a  hot  temper,  which 
often  escapes  beyond  control.  A  wave  of  rage 
rushed  up  to  my  head,  and  made  a  red  flame 
leap  before  my  eyes.  As  the  girl  talked  on, 
smiling  insolently,  I  struck  her  in  my  passion. 
She  staggered,  and  fell  on  the  floor,  her  head 


THE  GAME  OF  BLUFF  311 

pressed  up  against  the  fender  in  a  curious  way. 
Dear  heaven,  I  can  see  her  now,  lying  there, 
her  eyes  staring  wide  open,  seeming  to  look  at 
me,  her  lips  apart!  She  did  not  cry  out  or 
move;  and  as  I  stood  watching  her,  frightened 
at  what  I  had  done,  a  few  drops  of  blood  began  to 
ooze  from  her  mouth. 

"I  went  down  on  my  knees,  and  shook  her 
by  the  shoulder,  calling  her  name;  but  her 
head  fell  on  one  side,  as  if  she  had  been  a  horrid 
dummy  made  of  rags;  and  still  her  eyes  were 
staring  and  her  blood-stained  lips  smiling  that 
foolish,  awful  smile.  It  was  at  this  moment 
that  I  heard  a  knocking  at  the  door. 

"At  first  I  kept  quite  still,  dazed,  not  knowing 
what  I  should  do.  But  then  I  thought  it 
might  be  Maxime,  who  had  changed  his  mind 
about  selling  the  jewels,  and  come  back  soon 
to  tell  me.  I  was  in  the  mood  to  see  him  at 
whatever  cost.  I  called  through  the  door  to 
know  who  was  there.  Loria's  voice  answered. 
I  let  him  in,  explained  confusedly  what  had 
happened,  and  begged  him  to  bring  the  girl 
back  to  consciousness.     Five  minutes  later  he 


812       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

told  me  that  she  was  dead.  In  falling,  and 
striking  against  the  fender,  she  had  broken 
her  neck. 

"*What  is  to  become  of  me?*  I  asked.  *I 
did  not  mean  to  kill  her,  and  yet  —  I  am  a 
murderess.  Will  they  send  me  to  the  guillotine 
for  this.?' 

"*No,  because  I  will  save  you,'  Loria  an- 
swered. Then,  quickly,  he  made  me  under- 
stand the  scheme  that  had  come  into  his  mind. 
So  cunning,  so  wonderfully  thought  out  it  was, 
that  I  asked  myself  if  he  had  somehow  planned 
all  that  had  happened ;  if  he  had  sent  the  girl  to 
me,  and  told  her  to  say  what  she  had  said, 
counting  on  my  hot  blood  for  some  such  sequel 
as  really  followed.  But  I  could  not  see  any 
motive  for  such  plotting,  and  in  a  moment  I 
forgot  my  strange  suspicions,  in  gratitude  for 
his  offer  to  save  me.  Sometimes  I  had  fancied 
that,  in  spite  of  his  wish  to  marry  Madeleine 
Dalahaide,  he  loved  me;  now  he  swore  to  me 
the  truth  of  this,  and  I  was  scarcely  surprised. 
He  would  give  everything  he  had  in  the  world 
to  save  me,  he  said.     What  a  fool  I  was  to  believe 


THE  GAME  OF  BLUFF  313 

him!  All  I  had  to  do  in  return  was  to  promise 
that  I  would  obey  implicitly.  Gladly  I  prom- 
ised, and  I  did  not  falter  even  when  the  full 
horror  of  his  plan  was  revealed.  It  was  that 
or  a  disgraceful,  terrible  death  for  me.  Oh,  I 
would  have  done  anything  then  to  escape  the 
guillotine ! 

"First  of  all  he  made  me  write  a  letter  to 
Maxime,  telling  him  that  I  hated  him  and  never 
wished  to  see  him  again;  that  I  loved  another 
man  better.  I  did  this  gladly.  That  was 
nothing.  And  Loria  let  me  go  out  and  send 
the  letter,  while  he  began  the  awful  work  which 
had  to  come  next.  I  thanked  him  for  that.  I 
had  not  nerve  enough  left  to  help  much  after 
what  I  had  gone  through. 

"When  I  came  back  to  the  flat  after  sending 
off  the  letter,  Loria  unlocked  the  door  for  me. 
Already  the  worst  was  over. 

"His  idea  was  for  me  to  escape  and  let  it 
seem  that  I  had  been  murdered.  This  could 
be  done,  because  Olive  Sinclair  would  not  be 
missed.  She  had  given  up  her  rooms  to  leave 
for   England   that   night.     In    a   bag   hanging 


314       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

from  her  belt  were  her  tickets  for  train  and  boat. 
We  were  of  much  the  same  figure.  Loria,  in 
speaking  to  me  of  her  before,  had  mentioned 
this  slight  resemblance.  Her  hair  was  brown, 
while  mine  was  red-gold.  Hers  would  have 
to  be  bleached,  now  that  she  lay  dead.  But 
there  was  no  great  difficulty  in  that,  for  I 
had  the  stuff  in  the  house,  as  I  used  it  in 
very  small  quantities  to  give  extra  brightness 
to  mine. 

"  While  I  had  been  gone  Loria  had  fired  shot 
after  shot  into  the  poor  dead  face,  from  a 
revolver,  which  he  did  not  show  me.  After- 
ward, when  I  was  far  away,  I  heard  that  the 
weapon  was  Maxime's;  but,  honestly,  I  did  not 
think  at  the  time  that  Maxime  would  be  im- 
plicated in  this  affair.  I  was  half  mad.  I 
thought  only  of  myself,  and  of  Loria's  self- 
sacrifice.  Already  I  could  have  worshipped 
him  for  what  he  was  doing  to  save  me. 

"He  shot  the  hands,  too,  that  they  might 
be  shattered,  for  Olive  Sinclair's  hands  were 
not  like  mine;  but  before  he  did  that,  he 
had  slipped  two  or  three  of  my  rings,  which 


THE   GAME  OF  BLUFF  315 

he  had  found  on  my  dressing-table,  upon  the 
dead  fingers. 

**A11  this  was  finished  when  I  dragged  myself 
home.  But  together  we  bleached  the  dark  hair 
till  it  was  the  colour  of  mine,  and  together  we 
dressed  the  body  in  my  clothes,  Loria  having 
removed  the  gown  before  he  used  the  revolver. 
Oh,  the  horror  of  that  scene!  It  is  part  of  my 
punishment  that  I  live  it  over  often  at  night. 
At  last  we  arranged  the  shattered  hands  to  look 
as  if  the  girl  had  flung  them  up  to  protect  her 
face  from  the  murderer. 

"I  put  on  her  travelling  dress,  and  her  hat, 
with  a  thick  veil  of  my  own.  Meanwhile,  a 
knock  had  come  at  the  door.  I  feared  that  the 
shots  had  been  heard,  and  that  we  would  be 
arrested.  But  Loria  quieted  me.  He  said  the 
revolver  was  small,  and  had  made  scarcely  any 
sound;  that,  as  no  one  lived  in  the  flat  above 
or  just  underneath,  it  was  quite  safe.  We  did 
not  answer  the  knock,  though  it  came  again  and 
again.  But  afterward,  in  the  letter-box  on  the 
door,  there  was  a  packet  containing  the  money 
which  Maxime  had  got  from  the  pawnbroker 


316        THE   CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

for  my  jewels.  That  I  took  with  me,  and  Loria 
gave  me  more.  Whether  Maxime  himself 
brought  the  money,  or  sent  it  by  messenger, 
I  did  not  know;  but,  afterward,  the  concierge 
bore  witness  that  he  had  passed  into  the  house 
before  the  murder  must  have  taken  place,  and 
gone  out  long  afterward.  And  dimly  I  remem- 
bered, in  thinking  of  Loria  as  he  had  looked 
in  that  dreadful  hour,  that  he  had  worn  a  coat 
and  hat  like  Maxime's.  How  can  I  tell  what 
were  the  details  of  his  scheme .?  But  when 
Maxime  was  accused  of  the  murder,  and  Loria 
made  no  effort  to  exonerate  him,  it  took  all  my 
faith  in  the  Marchese  as  a  lover  to  believe  that 
he  was  sacrificing  his  friend  wholly  for  my  sake. 
As  for  me  —  why  should  I  give  myself  up  to 
the  guillotine  for  a  man  who  would  have  betrayed 
me  for  an  Olive  Sinclair  —  especially  when 
he  was  not  condemned  to  death,  but  only  to 
imprisonment  ? 

"I  went  to  England  in  Olive  Sinclair's  place. 
Fortunately  for  me,  she  had  no  relatives.  No 
one  asked  questions,  no  one  cared  what  had 
become  of  her.     She  was  not  a  celebrity,  in  spite 


THE   GAME  OF  BLUFF  317 

of  the  way  in  which  Maxime  Dalahaide  had 
worked  to  help  her.  After  a  while  I  left  England 
for  Portugal.  Meanwhile  I  had  dyed  my  hair, 
and  stained  my  complexion  with  a  wonderful 
clear  olive  stain  which  does  not  hurt  the  skin, 
and  shows  the  colour  through.  Here  are  the 
things  I  use,  in  this  bag.  I  keep  it  always 
locked  and  ready  to  my  hand. 

*'Loria  bought  me  a  little  land  and  an  old 
ruined  house  near  Lisbon,  belonging  to  an 
ancient  family,  of  whom  the  last  member  had 
died.  The  title  went  with  the  land.  It  was 
supposed  that  I  was  a  distant  cousin,  with 
money,  and  a  sentiment  of  love  for  the  old 
place.  But  really  I  hated  it.  It  was  dull  — 
deadly  dull.  I  travelled  as  much  as  possible, 
and  Loria  had  promised  that  at  the  end  of  the 
five  years  he  would  marry  me,  saying  always 
that  he  loved  me  well;  that  if  he  had  sinned 
it  was  for  love  of  me,  and  to  save  me.  When 
the  world  had  forgotten  the  affair  of  Maxime 
Dalahaide  we  would  be  married,  and  live  in 
countries  where  no  one  had  heard  the  story, 
and  nothing  would  remind  us  of  the  past.     I 


318        THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

forced  myself  to  believe  him,  for  he  was  my  all 
—  all  that  was  left  to  me  in  exile.  But  now 
I  know  him  for  what  he  is.  I  would  swear 
that  he  planned  everything  from  the  begin- 
ning to  ruin  Maxime  Dalahaide.  He  here  to 
help  his  old  enemy !  No,  it  is  he  who  must  have 
set  the  bloodhounds  on  his  track.  I  fight  un- 
der Loria's  banner  no  longer.  He  loves  Vir- 
ginia Beverly.  Now  that  she  knows  him  as 
he  is,  and  what  he  has  done  for  hatred,  let 
her  put  her  hand  in  his  if  she  will." 

The  woman's  voice  fell  from  a  shrill  height 
into  silence.  Her  olive-stained  face  was  ash- 
gray  with  exhaustion.  No  one  had  interrupted, 
or  tried  to  check  the  fierce  flood  of  the  con- 
fession, not  even  Loria.  All  had  stood  listen- 
ing, breathless;  and  Virginia  had  known  that, 
behind  the  door  of  his  locked  cabin,  Maxime 
Dalahaide  must  hear  every  clear-cadenced  word 
of  fine,  Parisian  French. 

Loria  had  stood  listening  with  the  rest,  a 
sneer  on  his  lips,  though  his  eyes  burned  with 
a  deep  fire.  If  he  had  taken  a  step,  hands 
would  have  been  thrust  out  to  stop  him.     But 


THE   GAME  OF  BLUFF  319 

he  did  not  move  except,  in  the  midst  of 
Liane  Devereux's  story,  to  play  nervously 
with  an  old-fashioned  ring  of  twisted,  jewel- 
headed  serpents  on  the  third  finger  of  his 
left  hand. 

Suddenly,  as  the  woman  finished,  he  raised 
the  hand  to  his  lips  and  seemed  to  bite  the 
finger  with  the  ring.  Then  he  dropped  his 
hand  and  looked  at  his  accomplice  with  a 
strained  smile.  But  the  smile  froze;  the  lips 
quivered  into  a  slight  grimace.  His  eyes, 
glittering  with  agony,  turned  to  Virginia. 

"I  loved  you,"  he  said,  and  fell  forward  on 
his  face. 

*'He  has  taken  poison!"  exclaimed  Chand- 
ler, the  United  States  Consul.  "It  must  have 
been  in  that  queer  ring." 

He  and  Roger  Broom  and  George  Trent 
and  the  German  doctor  pressed  round  the 
prostrate  figure,  but  the  woman  who  had 
denounced  him  was  before  them  all.  With  a  cry 
she  rushed  to  the  fallen  man,  and,  flinging  her- 
self down,  caught  up  the  hand  with  the  ring. 
They  saw  what  she  meant  to  do,  and  would 


320       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

have  snatched  her  away,  but  already  her  lips 
had  touched  the  spot  where  his  had  been,  and 
found  the  same  death. 


The  whole  situation  was  changed  by  the  un- 
expected developments  on  board  the  Bella  Cuba. 
Dr.  Sauber  had  relinquished,  indeed,  almost 
forgotten,  the  clever  plan  by  which  the  yacht 
was  to  be  detained.  The  French  Consul, 
Loria's  host,  was  hurriedly  brought  on  board, 
to  be  dumbfounded  by  a  recital  of  what  had 
happened.  With  Loria  dead,  and  guilty,  the 
fugitive  concealed  on  the  Bella  Cuba  innocent, 
De  Letz*s  personal  motive  for  detaining  the 
prisoner  disappeared.  His  chivalry  was  fired 
by  Virginia's  beauty  and  the  brave  part  she  had 
played.  In  the  end,  instead  of  making  diflS- 
culties  for  the  party,  he  consented  to  take  charge 
of  his  friend's  body  and  that  of  Liane  Dever- 
eux,  which  latter  duty  was  his  by  right,  as  con- 
sul to  the  country  from  which  she  came.  The 
dead  man  and  dead  woman  would  be  carried 
ashore    in   the    boat    which    had    brought    the 


THE  GAME  OF  BLUFF  321 

four  men  out  to  the  yacht;  and  De  Letz  would, 
acting  on  the  statement  of  those  who  had  heard 
the  confession,  make  such  representations  to 
France  as  would  eventually  obtain  for  Maxime 
Dalahaide  a  free  pardon  with  permission  to 
return  to  his  own  land.  Meanwhile  he  (De 
Letz)  reiterated  that  it  was  as  much  his  duty 
as  before  to  bring  about  the  arrest  of  the 
escaped  convict,  who  had  no  more  right  to 
break  his  prison  bonds  if  innocent  than  if 
he  were  guilty.  To  bring  it  about  if  possible! 
But  —  was  it  possible  ?  And  the  Frenchman 
shrugged  his  shoulders,  half  smiling  at  Vir- 
ginia. Mr.  Chandler  advised  him  that,  in  the 
present  circumstances,  it  would  be  unwise  to 
make  the  attempt.  De  Letz  was  inclined 
to  agree,  and,  as  Dr.  Sauber  had  apparently 
foimd  a  clean  bill  of  health,  the  Bella  Cuba 
must  take  her  own  sweet  way,  rebel  though 
she  was. 

So  when  the  yacht  had  finished  coaling  she 
steamed  out  of  the  harbour  of  Samoa  with 
Convict  1280  still  on  board. 

Virginia's  desire  was  to  make  for  America, 


322       THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

and  to  send  for  Madeleine,  who  had  been  liv- 
ing all  this  time  with  her  aunt  in  an  old  Surrey 
manor-house  belonging  to  Roger  Broom.  The 
brother  and  sister  should  stay  at  her  house  in 
Virginia  until  Maxime  was  free  to  return  to 
France,  and  he  would  grow  strong  and  well, 
and  everybody  concerned  would  be  happy.  It 
would  be  madness,  she  urged,  for  Maxime  to 
put  himself  in  the  power  of  French  law  until 
such  time  as  his  innocence  was  officially  acknowl- 
edged. 

But  Maxime  thought  otherwise.  His  inno- 
cence had  been  declared,  and  would  sooner 
or  later  be  acknowledged.  The  manly  and 
honourable  thing  to  do  was  to  trust  to  the 
generosity  of  his  adopted  land.  To  France 
he  would  go,  and  boldly  throw  himself  upon 
her  mercy. 

"He  is  right,  Virginia,"  said  Roger,  fearing 
the  while  that  secret  jealousy  influenced  his 
decision. 

"He  is  right,"  echoed  George  Trent,  with  no 
hidden  thoughts  at  all. 

Virginia  held  her  peace,  though  her  heart  was 


THE  GAME  OF  BLUFF  323 

full;  and  the  ultimate  destination  of  the  Bella 
Cuba  was  France. 


France  did  not  disappoint  Maxime's  trust, 
but  months  passed  before  he  was  a  free  man. 
Meantime  hope  had  given  him  new  life.  His 
sister  was  near  him.  Virginia  Beverly  was  in 
Paris  with  an  elderly  relative  of  Roger  Broom's 
as  her  chaperon-companion,  instead  of  Kate 
Gardiner.  Though  he  was  virtually  a  pris- 
oner, since  the  eye  of  the  law  was  upon  him, 
and  the  voice  of  the  law  pronounced  that  he 
should  go  so  far  and  no  farther,  still  he  was 
happy,  so  happy  that  he  often  awoke  from 
prison  dreams,  not  daring  to  believe  the  pres- 
ent reality. 

Then  at  last  the  day  came  when  he  was  free. 
Madeleine  was  staying  with  Virginia.  He 
would  see  them  together.  There  was  heaven 
in  the  thought.  George  Trent  was  there,  but 
not  Roger  Broom.  Roger  had  been  called  to 
England  on  business,  but  he  was  returning 
that  evening. 


324        THE   CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

Never  had  there  been  such  a  dinner  as  that 
which  celebrated  Maxime's  release  from  the  old 
bonds.  Virginia  had  taken  a  beautiful  house 
which  had  been  to  let  furnished,  near  the  Bois 
de  Boulogne. 

After  the  dinner  the  two  girls  with  their  broth- 
ers went  out  into  the  garden,  the  old  aunt,  ex- 
hausted with  over-much  joy,  remaining  indoors. 

Virginia  knew  what  would  come  next,  and 
drew  Madeleine  away  from  the  two  young  men 
that  George  might  have  the  chance  of  asking 
Maxime  for  his  sister.  Five  minutes  later 
Maxime  was  squeezing  Madeleine's  hand,  and 
telling  her  that  no  news  could  have  made  him 
so  happy.  Then,  somehow,  the  lovers  dis- 
appeared, and  Virginia  Beverly  and  Maxime 
Dalahaide  were  alone  together. 

"Everything  good  comes  to  us  from  you," 
he  said,  his  voice  unsteady.  *'  What  can  I  do  to 
show  you  how  I  —  how  we  worship  you  for 
all  you  have  done,  all  you  have  been  ?" 

"There  is  one  thing  you  can  do,"  Virginia 
answered  softly.  "A  favour  to  me.  There  is 
a  little  gift  I  want  to  make  to  you,  on  this  day 


THE  GAME  OF  BLUFF  325 

of  all  others.  I  have  been  planning  it,  think- 
ing of  it  for  a  long  time.  Here  is  this  paper. 
Take  it  and  read.  You  will  see  then  what  I 
mean,  and  why  I  want  it  so  much." 

It  was  a  long,  folded  document  of  legal  aspect 
which  she  thrust  into  his  hand,  and  in  the  blue 
evening  light  he  opened  it.  At  sight  of  the  first 
words  the  blood  leaped  to  his  dark  face,  marble 
no  longer,  but  a  man's  face,  young,  handsome, 
and  virile.   He  looked  from  the  paper  to  Virginia. 

"Why,  it  is  a  deed  of  gift!"  he  exclaimed. 
"  The  chateau  —  no.  Miss  Beverly,  you  are 
more  than  generous,  but  this  cannot  be.  The 
chateau  is  yours  —  I  would  rather  it  belonged 
to  you  than  to  any  one  on  earth,  even  myself  — 
and  yours  it  must  remain." 

*'  I  bought  it  for  you.  It  will  break  my  heart  if 
you  refuse,"  said  Virginia,  with  tears  in  her  voice. 

The  sound  of  her  pain  smote  him  with  an- 
guish. He  lost  his  head  and  forgot  the  barrier 
between  them  —  that  he  was  poor,  with  a  dark 
past  and  an  uncertain  future,  that  she  was  a 
great  heiress. 

*' Break    your    heart!"    he    repeated.     "My 


326        THE  CASTLE  OF  THE  SHADOWS 

darling,  my  angel,  I  would  give  all  the  blood  in 
mine  for  one  smile  from  you.  I  never  meant  to 
say  this.  I  oughtn't  to  say  it  now,  but  —  it 
said  itself.  You  must  have  known  before. 
You  are  the  very  soul  of  me,  though  I'm  not 
worthy  to  touch  your  dear  hand.  I  couldn't 
take  the  old  home  from  you  —  don't  you  under- 
stand.? I  couldn't  live  there  again  with  this 
love  of  you  in  my  heart,  for  it  would  make  it  so 
much  the  harder.  I  can't  forget  you;  I  would 
rather  die  than  forget  you.  This  love  is  too 
sweet  to  live  without,  but  I  know  very  well  that 
we  can  never  be  anything  to  each  other,  and  my 
plans  are  all  made.  As  soon  as  Madeleine  is 
married  I  shall  go  out  to  Africa  and  try  for  luck 
as  other  men  have  tried  —  and  found  it.     It  is 

better  for  me  to  be  far  away  from  you " 

"No,  no,  I  love  you!"  cried  Virginia.  Then 
putting  him  from  her  with  a  quick  gesture: 
"But  it  will  be  I  who  go  far  away  from  you. 
I  have  no  right  to  care.  My  cousin,  Roger 
Broom,  will  take  me  to  England  —  anywhere  — 
it  doesn't  matter.  I  promised  long  ago  to  marry 
him.     In  the  winter  perhaps " 


THE  GAME  OF  BLUFF  327 

"In  the  winter  you  and  Max  here  will  be 
spending  your  honeymoon  at  the  Chateau  de  la 
Roche,"  said  Roger's  voice,  with  a  hard  cheerful- 
ness. "That  old  promise  —  why,  I  never  meant 
to  hold  you  to  it,  dear.  I  don't  take  bribes, 
and  —  I  saw  this  coming  long  ago.  I'm  quite 
content  it  should  be  so.  You'll  forgive  me  for 
overhearing,  won't  you,  girlie?  I  didn't  mean 
to  give  you  such  a  surprise,  but  I'm  not  sorry 
now.  Give  me  your  hand.  Max,  old  man,  and 
you,  Virginia.  There!  I'm  glad  it  should  be  the 
old  cousin-guardian  who  joins  them  together." 

"You  mean  it,  Roger.?"  panted  Virginia. 

"Of  course  I  mean  it." 

The  two  hands  joined  imder  his.  And  the 
man  and  the  girl  were  too  happy  to  read  any- 
thing save  kindness  in  its  nervous  pressure. 

THE   END 


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